Prime Minister Starmer traveled to north Wales this past Thursday to announce the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. Yet, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he used the time attempting to put an end to the Labour leadership briefing row, informing journalists that No 10 had not undermined the health secretary's goals in recent days.
As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has evolved into overall. Firstly, he wants his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this because of the manner he – and, partly, the country more generally – now conducts political and governmental affairs.
Sir Keir cannot change the culture of politics on his own, but he can do something about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the centre of government much more effectively than he does. If he did this, he could discover that the country was in less dismay about his administration than it is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.
Staffing Issues in Downing Street
Some of the problems in Downing Street are about individuals. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation 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. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or by halves.
- He hesitated about assigning the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
- He appointed a former official his chief of staff, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
- He brought a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
- His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
- Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
- The situation is chaotic.
Systemic Issues at the Core of the Administration
Every prime minister devote excessive time overseas and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and insufficient time conversing with parliamentarians and listening to the public. Prime ministers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney has recently.
The biggest issues, however, are structural. It would be good to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues in the summer or since implies he did not. The often abject performance of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like restructuring the functions of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are currently critical.
The political pre-eminence of prime ministers greatly exceeds the support available to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or neglected.
This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of previous shortcomings along with the architect of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.
