Several in the Labour Party Seek Starmer Out. He Assures Me He Will Survive – while Britain's Economy Is Set to Strengthen.

"I will be positioned in this seat by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into his official residence for another conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his MPs challenged him 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 public was naturally impatient for things to improve. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big argument is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – including 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 more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship 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 a long period, the notion he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Opponents wanted him to denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

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