🔗 Share this article Number 10 Downing St Fails to Be Capable of the Task Prime Minister Starmer traveled to north Wales this past Thursday to reveal the construction of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he spent it attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, informing journalists that No 10 had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days. Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become more generally. Firstly, he desires his government to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this because of the manner he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now practices politics and government. Sir Keir is unable to change the political culture single-handedly, but he is able to do something about his own role 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 might find that the country was in less despair about his government than it is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully. Personnel Problems in No 10 Some of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are difficult to discern well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, 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 by halves. He dithered about giving the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald. He made a former official his top aide, then replaced her with a political strategist. He recruited Darren Jones in from the Treasury as his chief secretary. His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced. Political and policy advisers have come and gone. It is a mess. Structural Challenges at the Heart of the Administration All premiers spend too much time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to MPs and hearing the citizens. Prime ministers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who are often party loyalists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as the chief of staff now has. The biggest issues, though, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir read the a think tank's spring 2024 report on reforming the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues in the summer or since implies he did not. The often abject experience of the Labour administration indicates recommendations like restructuring the functions of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are currently critical. The political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or neglected. This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the victim of past failures as well as the author of current mistakes. But those who hoped 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 shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.