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"I'll be positioned in this office by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up talk next year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his political fate are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that a significant number of his party members think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to change. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big point is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – 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 it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to