Number 10 Downing St Is Not Up to the Job

Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to announce the development of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the prime minister did not dedicate 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 briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become more generally. Firstly, he desires his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is unable to achieve this because of the way he – and, to an extent, the country as a whole – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir is unable to transform 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 run the government's core much more effectively than he does. Should he achieve this, he could discover that the country was in less dismay about his government than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

A number of the problems in Number 10 are about individuals. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are difficult to discern well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or maintain them. Perhaps he is too busy. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He dithered about assigning the key job of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He appointed a former official his chief of staff, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of Government

All premiers spend too much time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to MPs and listening to the citizens. Premiers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who tend to be party activists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The biggest issues, however, are structural. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir read the a think tank's spring 2024 study on reforming the government's central operations. His inability to address these matters last July or since implies he did not. The often abject experience of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The dominant political role of prime ministers greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Sadly, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.