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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if the discussion was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk next year.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his standing are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The Spring Test

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

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to get better. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political perils as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

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