🔗 Share this article

"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, noting that if our conversation went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another chat next year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a little a rest with his 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 saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his standing are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out this year.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. 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, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably impatient for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, does he need a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to undo the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please some on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to