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Sir Keir Starmer traveled to north Wales on Thursday to announce the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the prime minister did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he used the time trying to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that No 10 had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his premiership has now become more generally. Firstly, he desires his administration to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this because of the way he – and, to an extent, the country more generally – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister 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 run the government's core far better than he does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less despair about his government than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Staffing Issues in No 10

Some of the issues in Downing Street are about personnel. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are hard to know accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir does not make sound staffing decisions, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. But he needs to improve his performance, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He hesitated about giving the key job of cabinet secretary to a senior official.
• He made a former official his top aide, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his deputy.
• His media advisors have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Core of the Administration

All premiers devote excessive time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to parliamentarians and hearing the public. Prime ministers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who tend to be party loyalists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the story, as the chief of staff has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are systemic. It would be good to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 report on overhauling the centre of government. His inability to grip these issues last July or since implies he did not. The often abject performance of the Labour administration suggests recommendations like reorganizing the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and civil service head, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of PMs far outdistances the support available to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly 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. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.