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"I'll remain in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if our conversation went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his standing are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

But Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

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

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably trigger protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to