🔗 Share this article

"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to change. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the administration implemented during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

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

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for 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 – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

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