🔗 Share this article Number 10 Downing St Fails to Be Up to the Job Sir Keir Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region on Thursday to announce the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the PM did not devote extensive time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he used the time trying to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that No 10 had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days. As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his premiership has now become overall. Firstly, he desires his government to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. 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 cannot transform the culture of politics on his own, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could run the government's core far better than he does. Should he achieve this, he could discover that the country was in less dismay about his administration than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully. Staffing Issues in Downing Street A number of the issues in Downing Street relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir does not make sound staffing decisions, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. But he needs to up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves. He hesitated about assigning the key job of cabinet secretary to Chris Wormald. He made a former official his top aide, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney. He recruited a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his deputy. His media advisors have chopped and changed. Political and policy advisers have come and gone. It is a mess. Systemic Issues 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 insufficient time talking to MPs and listening to the public. Premiers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who tend to be party loyalists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney has recently. The biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 report on overhauling the centre of government. His inability to grip these issues last July or since suggests he did not. The often abject experience of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like reorganizing the functions of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent. The political pre-eminence of PMs far outdistances the support available to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or neglected. This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He stands as the casualty of past failures along with the author of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir personally.