Several within the Labour Party Seek Starmer Out. The Prime Minister Tells Interviewers He Will Survive – and Britain's Economic Outlook Is Set to Improve.

"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is never any break for leaders. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his standing are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting 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 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue 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 attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to get better. He tried to assure me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core point is that soon 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 some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from within his own party for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister 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 backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to