🔗 Share this article

"I will remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

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

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting nobody would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to change. He tried to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

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

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is facing obvious political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship 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 a long period, the idea he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

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