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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his standing are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, 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.

True – in part. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to change. He tried to convince me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to