🔗 Share this article Number 10 Downing Street Fails to Be Up to the Job Prime Minister Starmer visited Wales' northern region on Thursday to reveal the building of a new nuclear power station. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not devote extensive time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he spent it trying to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary's goals earlier this week. Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into overall. Firstly, he wants his government to be doing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. Conversely, he is unable to accomplish this due to the manner he – and, partly, the country as a whole – now practices political and governmental affairs. The Prime Minister cannot change the culture of politics single-handedly, but he can do something about his own role in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the centre of government far better than he does. Should he achieve this, he might find that the nation was in less dismay about his administration than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively. Personnel Problems in No 10 Some of the problems in Number 10 relate to individuals. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to up his game, 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 Morgan McSweeney. He recruited a Treasury figure 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. Structural Challenges at the Core of the Administration All premiers devote excessive time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little conversing with MPs and listening to the citizens. Premiers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who are often party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney now has. The biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues last July or since suggests he did not. The frequently dismal performance of Labour’s time in office suggests IfG proposals like restructuring the roles of the central government office and No 10, and dividing the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent. The political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or neglected. This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of previous shortcomings along with the author of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.