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

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his premiership has now become more generally. Firstly, he desires his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this due to the way he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now practices politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot change the culture of politics single-handedly, but he is able to take action about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the country was in less dismay about his government than it currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully.

Staffing Issues in No 10

A number of the issues in Number 10 relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to improve his performance, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He appointed a former official his chief of staff, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his deputy.
• His media advisors have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Core of the Administration

All premiers spend too much time overseas and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little talking to parliamentarians and hearing the citizens. Premiers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who are often party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The biggest issues, though, are structural. It would be beneficial to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 study on reforming the centre of government. His inability to address these matters in the summer or since suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like restructuring the functions of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and civil service head, are now urgent.

The dominant political role of PMs greatly exceeds the support available to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of past failures along with the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the core and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Sadly, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir personally.