Several in Labour Want Keir Starmer Out. He Assures Me He'll Remain – and Britain's Economy Will Get Better.

"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, noting that if our conversation went well, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up chat next year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for prime ministers. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had occurred 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 usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his standing are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that many of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, 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 not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration enacted during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes 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 at ease with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been bubbling tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to