What malicious spirit possessed Tony Blair when he sat down to plan his reshuffle last week? Perhaps he was in shock over the departure from the government of Alan Milburn, the health secretary. The euro decision, in which he was comprehensively outflanked by Gordon Brown, the chancellor, might have been weighing on his mind. The pressure on the prime minister over the fruitless search for Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction could be telling. Or perhaps we should just accept that this badly botched reshuffle says everything you need to know about Mr Blair and his government: the prime minister’s lack of organisational skills, his inability to bring on new talent, his unwillingness to consult on far-reaching constitutional changes and, above all, his fatal addiction to advancing the careers of cronies.

The departure of Mr Milburn was a huge setback, not because it forced the prime minister into changes he might not have wanted, or because it marked the departure of another Blairite. Many will sympathise with Mr Milburn’s desire to spend more time with his family, although some would echo the late Nicholas Ridley, who before leaving the Tory government said the last thing he wanted was to spend more time with his family. It is hard to believe, however, that Mr Milburn would have quit if the billions of taxpayers’ money the government is pouring into the NHS were delivering results. He knew progress was achingly slow and he would have to defend a dismal record in front of voters while also facing Treasury sniping.

The prime minister had a choice on who to put into this key post. He could have moved David Blunkett, one of the government’s most impressive performers, or chosen Patricia Hewitt or Peter Hain. By now he should have brought on a high-flyer such as Yvette Cooper to take on that sort of role. Instead he settled for John Reid, who in just 69 days as leader of the Commons managed to destroy his credibility with his unsubstantiated claim that “rogue elements” in the security services were undermining the government. Dr Reid, like the hapless Labour party chairman Ian McCartney, is symptomatic of the government’s problem. At a time when southern voters are already concerned about the way Labour’s tax-and-spend agenda is heading, the last thing they want to hear is a couple of Scottish bruisers repeatedly insisting that black is white.

Reshuffles come and go but big constitutional changes last for decades, even centuries. Was Mr Blair so keen to secure his place in history (denied to him on the euro) that he rushed through the abolition of the post of lord chancellor and the creation of his new department of constitutional affairs? It looks like that. There might be a case for a supreme court to replace the law lords and abolishing, or reforming, the lord chancellor’s role. A new system of appointing the judiciary is overdue. But the prime minister’s rushed announcement owes more to political expediency and the home secretary’s blocking of a new justice ministry than anything more skilfully planned.

Worse, he got rid of one crony, Lord Irvine, and appointed another, Lord “Charlie” Falconer. Neither was an outstanding lawyer who got their position on merit. Neither has ever had to put themselves before the voters. Both had one essential attribute: they were Tony’s mates. The sight of the chubby frame of Mr Blair’s former flatmate adorning the woolsack, which he will continue to do until the office of lord chancellor is abolished, said much about the random and undemocratic process of this government.

These constitutional changes are occurring when reform of the House of Lords is half-complete and looks to be going nowhere. John Prescott is proposing regional assemblies for the north but not apparently for the south. The anomalies created by Scottish and Welsh devolution have been compounded by the latest confusion, created by the reshuffle, about who speaks for Scotland and Wales in Westminster. It is, as one Labour MP put it, “a dog’s breakfast”. And after last week, few can have confidence in Mr Blair’s ability to sort it out.