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Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales on Thursday to declare the development of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a significant policy event with both local and national implications. Yet, the PM did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's energy needs. Instead, he used the time trying to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that No 10 had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a microcosm of what his premiership has evolved into more generally. On the one hand, he desires his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this due to the way he – and, to an extent, the nation as a whole – now conducts politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot transform the political culture single-handedly, but he is able to do something about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the centre of government far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the country was in less dismay about his administration than it currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

A number of the issues in Downing Street relate to individuals. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are hard to know accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He appointed a former official his top aide, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Systemic Issues at the Heart of the Administration

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little talking to parliamentarians and hearing the citizens. Premiers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who tend to be party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to address these matters last July or since suggests he did not. The often abject performance of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like reorganizing the functions of the Cabinet Office and No 10, and separating the jobs of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the casualty of past failures as well as the author of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Sadly, the biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir himself.