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"I will be positioned in this seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

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

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his political fate are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating 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 prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to improve. He aimed to assure me, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

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 after an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Some demanded denounce it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to