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Sir Keir Starmer traveled to north Wales on Thursday to announce the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's energy needs. Instead, he spent it attempting to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, telling journalists that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary's goals in recent days.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his premiership has evolved into overall. Firstly, he desires his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. On the other hand, he is incapable to accomplish this because of the way he – and, to an extent, the nation as a whole – now conducts politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot change the culture of politics single-handedly, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could run the government's core much more effectively than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less despair about his administration than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Personnel Problems in No 10

A number of the problems in Number 10 are about individuals. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are hard to know accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He dithered about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He made a former official his top aide, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He recruited Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His media advisors have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little talking to parliamentarians and listening to the public. Prime ministers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party loyalists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the story, as the chief of staff now has.

The most significant problems, however, are systemic. It would be good to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's spring 2024 study on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues last July or afterward implies he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like reorganizing the functions of the Cabinet Office and No 10, and dividing the positions of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The dominant political role of prime ministers greatly exceeds the support available to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.