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"I will be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the interview was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another talk next year.

There is rarely ever break for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and remove him this year.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting no one would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to change. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

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

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as desired.

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of 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 – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been growing tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to