🔗 Share this article Number 10 Downing Street Is Not Capable of the Task Sir Keir Starmer traveled to north Wales on Thursday to announce the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's energy needs. Instead, he used the time trying to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that No 10 had not undermined the health secretary's goals earlier this week. As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a microcosm of what his premiership has now become more generally. Firstly, he desires his administration to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. Conversely, he is unable to accomplish this due to the way he – and, partly, the nation as a whole – now conducts politics and government. The Prime Minister is unable to transform the political culture on his own, but he can do something about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could run the government's core far better than he currently does. Should he achieve this, he might find that the nation was in less despair about his administration 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 Downing Street are about individuals. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to improve his performance, not do things slowly or by halves. He dithered about assigning the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald. He made Sue Gray his top aide, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney. He brought Darren Jones in from the Treasury as his deputy. His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced. Political and policy advisers have entered and exited. It is a mess. Structural Challenges at the Core of Government All premiers devote excessive time overseas and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little conversing with MPs and listening to the public. Prime ministers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who are often party activists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the story, as the chief of staff now has. The biggest issues, though, are structural. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His inability to address these matters in the summer or afterward implies he did not. The frequently dismal performance of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like reorganizing the roles of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are now urgent. The dominant political role of prime ministers greatly exceeds the support available to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or ignored. This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of previous shortcomings along with the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Sadly, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.