Several in the Labour Party Desire Starmer Removed. The Prime Minister Informs Me He'll Endure – and Britain's Economic Outlook Will Strengthen.

"I will be positioned in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, joking that if the discussion went well, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the leader is that a significant number of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to get better. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, should he consider a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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 outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to