Number 10 Downing St Is Not Capable of the Task

Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales on Thursday to declare the construction of a new nuclear power station. This represents a significant policy event with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the prime minister did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he used the time attempting to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, informing journalists that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary's goals in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a microcosm of what his premiership has evolved into overall. On the one hand, he desires his administration to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. On the other hand, he is incapable to accomplish this because of the manner he – and, partly, the nation as a whole – now conducts politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to transform the political culture single-handedly, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the centre of government far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less dismay about his government than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

Some of the issues in Downing Street are about individuals. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are hard to know well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He dithered about giving the crucial role of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his chief of staff, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Systemic Issues at the Heart of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and insufficient time talking to parliamentarians and listening to the public. Premiers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. Yet leaders 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 biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s March 2024 report on reforming the centre of government. His inability to address these matters in the summer or afterward suggests he did not. The often abject performance of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like restructuring the functions of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and civil service head, are currently critical.

The political pre-eminence of PMs far outdistances the support available to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the casualty of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of current mistakes. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.