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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the interview went well, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never any downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments 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 held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to get better. He tried to assure me, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a firm date on that.
• He noted 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 time that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, should he consider a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. 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 opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to