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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, joking that if our interview was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him in 2026.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to improve. He aimed to assure me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

But despite facing demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of 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 – came to light.

Sir Keir 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 courting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes 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 at ease with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been growing tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to