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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if our discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his standing are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, maybe 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 although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably impatient for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big argument is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been simmering desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to