🔗 Share this article

"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if our discussion went well, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. Just an hour before our chat started, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Starmer appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to get better. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not 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 closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its as desired.

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

Regrets and Risks

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

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics called for him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely provoke accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to