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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, noting that if the discussion was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

There is never any break for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to get better. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to