🔗 Share this article

Sir Keir Starmer visited Wales' northern region this past Thursday to reveal the construction of a new nuclear power station. This is a significant policy event with both local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not devote extensive time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time trying to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, informing reporters that No 10 had not undermined the health secretary's goals in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has now become overall. Firstly, he wants his administration to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to accomplish this because of the way he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister is unable to transform the political culture single-handedly, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth 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 government than it is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

A number of the issues in Number 10 relate to individuals. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are hard to know well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Perhaps he is too busy. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. But he needs to up his game, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his top aide, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Systemic Issues at the Heart of Government

Every prime minister devote excessive time overseas and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time talking to parliamentarians and hearing the public. Premiers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party activists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 study on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues last July or afterward suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of Labour’s time in office suggests IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of prime ministers far outdistances the support available to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the victim of previous shortcomings 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. Sadly, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir personally.