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"I will be sitting in this seat by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

There is never truly downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I intend to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across 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 not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

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

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to