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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if our interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is never any break for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his standing are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the PM is that numerous of his party members believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. 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 step down, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big argument is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, does he need a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, 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 controversy when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Some wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been growing tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will delight many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to