Most of the people I deal with outside government agree that Darren Jones, whom Keir Starmer has just appointed as his chief secretary, is one of the most effective ministers in it. And both Tim Allan and Minouche Shafik bring to their new jobs as director of communications and chief economic adviser the authority and judgment that come from long experience in communications and economic policymaking. So Keir Starmer’s reorganisation of his No. 10 team has a good chance of improving his grip on the government machine.

But nobody in the Labour party should be under the illusion that the government’s woes are simply a result of dysfunction in Downing Street. That dysfunction was real and made everything worse. But the central problem of this government is a different and a much more fundame

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