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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to improve. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government put in place during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core point is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been growing desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely provoke protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to