A Number of within the Labour Party Seek Starmer Out. The Prime Minister Informs Interviewers He Will Remain – while Britain's Economic Outlook Will Get Better.
"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if the discussion was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up conversation next year.
For a PM, there's never truly time off for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.
When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.
A Refresh for the New Year
With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.
That certainly seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.
Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his standing are set to get better?
Leadership Questions
The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.
However Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.
On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.
"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he said.
Upcoming Local Votes
The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.
Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.
Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.
Promises of Improvement
He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably eager for things to get better. He tried to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.
The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.
- He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
- He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
- He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.
His central point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".
Political Challenges
The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.
But despite facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.
Given that he is in considerable political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?
No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.
The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.
Controversies and Dangers
The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.
Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.
And he is facing evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.
Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with such action seems unlikely.
International Law and Brexit
He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".
Some wanted him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.
There has also always been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.
Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer plan to move closer with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.
A move to align with more of the single market will please some on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to
