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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if the discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another talk in the coming year.

There is never any break for prime ministers. Shortly before our chat started, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his political fate are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the PM is that many of his party members are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to improve. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

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

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political risks as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been growing pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight many on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to