🔗 Share this article

Prime Minister Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region this past Thursday to announce the construction of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the PM did not dedicate much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, informing journalists that Downing Street 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 administration to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to accomplish this because of the manner he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now conducts politics and government.

Sir Keir is unable to transform the political culture on his own, but he is able to take action about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could run the centre of government far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Personnel Problems in No 10

Some of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are hard to know well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make sound staffing decisions, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He dithered about giving the key job 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 Treasury as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of the Administration

Every prime minister devote excessive time overseas and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to parliamentarians and listening to the citizens. Prime ministers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who are often party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The most significant problems, however, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's spring 2024 report on reforming the government's central operations. His failure to address these matters in the summer or since implies he did not. The often abject performance of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the Cabinet Office and No 10, and dividing the positions of cabinet secretary and civil service head, are currently critical.

The political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the support available to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings along with the author of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Sadly, the biggest loser from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.