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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if the interview was successful, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

There is rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to change. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "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 facing clear political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails 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 a long period, the thought he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to