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"I will remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central point is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted 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 statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been growing tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

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