🔗 Share this article

Prime Minister Starmer visited north Wales on Thursday to declare the construction of a new nuclear power station. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not devote much time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he used the time attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters that No 10 had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his premiership has evolved into overall. On the one hand, he wants his administration to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this because of the manner he – and, partly, the country more generally – now conducts politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to change the political culture on his own, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the government's core 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 getting his messages across more successfully.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

Some of the issues in Downing Street relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to up his game, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He hesitated about giving the key job of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He made a former official his chief of staff, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His media advisors have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Core of the Administration

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time conversing with parliamentarians and listening to the public. Premiers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party loyalists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The most significant problems, though, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s March 2024 study on reforming the centre of government. His failure to address these matters last July or afterward suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like restructuring the functions of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of cabinet secretary and civil service head, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers far outdistances the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the casualty of past failures along with the architect of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir himself.