A Number of within the Labour Party Seek Starmer Removed. The Prime Minister Assures Interviewers He'll Survive – while Britain's Economic Outlook Will Improve.

"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into Downing Street for another conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting nobody would take his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I intend to guide the party," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's strikes 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.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the results that followed Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will please a faction on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to