🔗 Share this article

Sir Keir Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region on Thursday to declare the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not devote much time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he spent it attempting to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, informing journalists that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become more generally. Firstly, he desires his administration to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is unable to accomplish this due to the manner he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now practices politics and government.

The Prime Minister cannot change the political culture single-handedly, but he is able to do something about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could run the centre of government much more effectively than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less dismay about his administration than it is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Staffing Issues in No 10

A number of the issues in Number 10 relate to individuals. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job of cabinet secretary to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his top aide, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His media advisors have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of Government

All premiers devote excessive time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to MPs and listening to the citizens. Prime ministers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party loyalists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The most significant problems, however, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s March 2024 study on overhauling the centre of government. His failure to address these matters in the summer or afterward suggests 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 head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The dominant political role of PMs far outdistances the support available to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the casualty of past failures as well as the author of present ones. 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 personally.