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"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in 2026.

There is rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his political fate are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I intend to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

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

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core argument is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and certainly 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 government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been simmering desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to