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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if our interview was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, Starmer appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted 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 controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is courting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes 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 this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

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