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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the leader is that many of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally eager for things to get better. He tried to persuade me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

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

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn 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 simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to