Some within Labour Want Starmer Out. The Prime Minister Informs Interviewers He Will Survive – and Britain's Economic Outlook Is Set to Improve.

"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if the interview went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe 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 sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his standing are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I plan to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

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

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

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to assure me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

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

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing 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 stated he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been simmering pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision 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