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"I will remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if the discussion was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat next year.

There is never truly time off for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his political fate are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – 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 suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to get better. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration enacted 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 proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been simmering pressure 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 more concrete commitment to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably elicit protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy many on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to