🔗 Share this article

"I will remain in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our conversation went well, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up chat in 2026.

There is never any break for leaders. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his political fate are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I plan to lead us," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

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

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally eager for things to change. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government enacted during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me 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 – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to