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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, joking that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his political fate are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that a significant number of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", insisting nobody would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I intend to guide the party," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

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

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 outcry when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

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