🔗 Share this article

"I'll be positioned in this office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the interview went well, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy many on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to