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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, noting that if the discussion went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

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

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

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