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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his standing are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the leader is that numerous of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably impatient for things to get better. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government enacted during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big point is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting evident political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Some wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been growing pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to