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Sir Keir Starmer visited Wales' northern region on Thursday to reveal the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he spent it attempting to put an end to the Labour leadership briefing row, informing journalists that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a small-scale example of what his premiership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he desires his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this due to the manner he – and, to an extent, the nation as a whole – now practices political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir is unable to transform the political culture on his own, but he is able to do something about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the centre of government far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in No 10

Some of the issues in Number 10 are about individuals. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are hard to know accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He dithered about assigning the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He appointed Sue Gray his chief of staff, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little conversing with parliamentarians and hearing the public. Prime ministers also spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who are often party activists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the story, as the chief of staff now has.

The most significant problems, though, are structural. It would be good to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 study on reforming the centre of government. His failure to grip these issues last July or since suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration suggests recommendations like reorganizing the functions of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and dividing the positions of top official and civil service head, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of prime ministers greatly exceeds the support available to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the casualty of past failures as well as the author of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.