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"I'll be sitting in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if our discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining no one would remove his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop 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 rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to change. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister 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 past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Some demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to