Several in the Labour Party Seek Keir Starmer Removed. The Prime Minister Informs Me He'll Endure – and the Economy Is Set to Improve.

"I will remain in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

But Sir Keir was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I intend to guide the party," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to change. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

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

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big argument is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political vision, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me 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 backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting clear political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been simmering desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely elicit howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to