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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another talk in the coming year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

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

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big message is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance 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 his career, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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