Number 10 Downing St Fails to Be Capable of the Task

Prime Minister Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region this past Thursday to reveal the construction of a new nuclear power station. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not devote much time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he spent it trying to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his premiership has evolved into overall. Firstly, he desires his government to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. Conversely, he is unable to achieve this because of the manner he – and, partly, the nation as a whole – now practices politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to transform the culture of politics single-handedly, but he is able to take action about his own role 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 might find that the nation was in less dismay about his administration than it is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Staffing Issues in No 10

A number of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make sound staffing decisions, or maintain them. Perhaps he is too busy. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to up his game, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He dithered about giving the crucial role of cabinet secretary to a senior official.
• He made a former official his chief of staff, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His media advisors have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of Government

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 spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the story, as the chief of staff 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 reforming the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues last July or afterward suggests he did not. The often abject performance of Labour’s time in office suggests IfG proposals like restructuring the roles of the Cabinet 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 far outdistances the support available to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.