🔗 Share this article

Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales on Thursday to announce the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a significant policy event with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not dedicate much time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he spent it trying to put an end to the Labour leadership briefing row, informing reporters that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his premiership has now become more generally. Firstly, he wants his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to accomplish this due to the way he – and, partly, the nation as a whole – now practices politics and government.

The Prime Minister cannot transform the culture of politics 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 much more effectively than he does. Should he achieve this, he might find that the nation was in less dismay about his administration than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Staffing Issues in No 10

Some of the issues in Downing Street are about personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Perhaps he is too busy. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job 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 media advisors have chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of Government

All premiers devote excessive time overseas and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and insufficient time talking to MPs and hearing the citizens. Prime ministers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the focus, as the chief of staff now has.

The biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be good to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 report on reforming the government's central operations. His failure to address these matters last July or afterward suggests he did not. The frequently dismal performance of the Labour administration suggests recommendations like reorganizing the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of cabinet secretary 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 neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings along with the architect of current mistakes. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.