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Prime Minister Starmer visited Wales' northern region on Thursday to declare the development of a new nuclear power station. This is a significant policy event with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not devote much time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that Downing Street 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 evolved into more generally. Firstly, he wants his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to accomplish this due to the manner he – and, to an extent, the country more generally – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir cannot change the political culture on his own, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core much more effectively than he does. Should he achieve this, he might find that the country 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

Some of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are hard to know well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to improve his performance, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He dithered about giving the key job of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He made a former official his chief of staff, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He recruited Darren Jones in from the Treasury as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of Government

All premiers devote excessive time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little talking to MPs and listening to the public. Prime ministers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the story, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The most significant problems, though, are systemic. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir read the a think tank's spring 2024 study on overhauling the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues last July or afterward suggests he did not. The frequently dismal performance of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like restructuring the roles of the central government office and No 10, and separating the jobs of cabinet secretary and civil service head, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of PMs greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the casualty of past failures as well as the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir personally.