Some in the Labour Party Want Starmer Out. He Informs Me He'll Remain – and the Economy Will Improve.

"I will remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

There is never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

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

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out this year.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I plan to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government implemented during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

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

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, including 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 after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is facing evident political dangers as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication 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 idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European market – will likely elicit howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with 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