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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are set to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining no one would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I aim to lead us," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem 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 tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to improve. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central point is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention 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 condemn it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to