A Number of in the Labour Party Want Starmer Removed. The Prime Minister Tells Interviewers He'll Endure – and Britain's Economic Outlook Is Set to Improve.

"I will remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

There is never truly downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting no one would remove his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to get better. He aimed to assure me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

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

Given that he is in such significant political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM 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 following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not catching 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 unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics wanted him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been growing tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

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