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"I will remain in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if our discussion was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him in 2026.

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

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing no one would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. 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 circumstances under which he would step down, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

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

And there has consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

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