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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have left him in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

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

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that many of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure me, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal 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 discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

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

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with much more political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its own way.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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

Starmer attributed it to "the system" 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 risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been growing pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to