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Sir Keir Starmer traveled to north Wales on Thursday to reveal the construction of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a significant policy event with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not devote much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he spent it attempting to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters that No 10 had not briefed against 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 overall. On the one hand, he wants his government to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this due to the manner he – and, to an extent, the country more generally – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir is unable to transform the political culture single-handedly, but he is able to do something about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core far better than he does. Should he achieve this, he might find that the nation was in less dismay about his government than it is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

Some of the issues in Downing Street relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to improve his performance, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the crucial role of cabinet secretary to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his chief of staff, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Core of Government

All premiers spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little conversing with parliamentarians and hearing the citizens. Prime ministers also spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who tend to be party activists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The most significant problems, however, are structural. It would be good to think that Sir Keir read the a think tank's spring 2024 report on reforming the centre of government. His inability to grip these issues in the summer or afterward implies he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of top official and civil service head, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of PMs greatly exceeds the support available to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of current mistakes. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the core and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.