🔗 Share this article Number 10 Downing Street Is Not Up to the Job Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to announce the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a significant policy event with both local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not dedicate much time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's energy needs. Instead, he spent it attempting to put an end to 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 small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. On the one hand, he desires his administration to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. On the other hand, he is incapable to accomplish this due to the way he – and, partly, the country as a whole – now conducts political and governmental affairs. Sir Keir is unable to change the political culture single-handedly, but he can do something about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the government's core much more effectively than he currently does. If he did 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. Staffing Issues in No 10 A number of the problems in Downing Street relate to individuals. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir does not make sound staffing decisions, or stick with 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 cabinet secretary to a senior official. He made Sue Gray his top aide, then replaced her with a political strategist. He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary. His media advisors have chopped and changed. Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited. 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 talking to MPs and hearing the public. Prime ministers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party loyalists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney has recently. The most significant problems, however, are structural. It would be good to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 study on reforming the centre of government. His inability to address these matters in the summer or since implies he did not. The frequently dismal experience of Labour’s time in office indicates IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and dividing the positions of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are now urgent. The dominant political role of prime ministers far outdistances the assistance provided 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 victim of past failures as well as the author of current mistakes. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Sadly, the biggest loser from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.