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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another chat in 2026.

There is rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, 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 commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting no one would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I plan to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

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

True – in part. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should a his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably eager for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM 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 controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting obvious political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics called for him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been bubbling desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to