🔗 Share this article

"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if our interview was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for another chat next year.

There is never any downtime for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will please some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to