Starmer is not an easy PM to interview - but he came to G7 armed with a message

Keir Starmer is not an easy prime minister to interview.

A former top lawyer, he is precise and factual. He sticks to his script, he rarely misspeaks, and it's difficult to draw him out. He's not easy to outwit. He's forensic, cautious, and stiff.

But at the G7 in Evian, France, in what could be one of his final interview rounds as prime minister at an international summit, a different kind of Starmer turned up for our sit-down. One who, in the words of one of his most faithful aides, was "up for the fight".

He was less defensive, more expansive and came armed with a message - that he was going to fight on as he dared his opponents to come for him.

"I don't feel angry, I don't feel bitter," he told me when I asked him how he felt about the predicament he's in.

"I remind myself it is an incredible privilege to be the prime minister of the United Kingdom, to be here, talking to world leaders about some of the biggest issues of the day, to be able to serve your country, to grapple with the difficult issues."

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As for his main challenger, the PM didn't swerve questions on Andy Burnham.

Instead, he set out a survival strategy, telling me that he wanted Burnham back in his cabinet - "he's a huge asset" - and telling the "whole Labour movement" that the party is "tipped straight into" a Manchester Mayoralty race it has to win.

But equally, the prime minister wasn't entirely wilfully blind to his predicament.

When I asked him if he was going to lead the party into the next general election, he gave me a different answer from what he said last September - "I will" and last November - "Yes".

"That's what I want to do."

When I noted his different answer and asked him what had changed, he didn't try to swerve: "Well, that's what I want to do, but of course, when you lose elections as badly as we did in May, it hurts and it should hurt. It matters. And that has got to be turned around.

"The question is, do we pull together and turn that around as a party and as a government, which is what I think we should do?

"Or do we descend into a leadership race, which will bring chaos with it? We know that the last government did this, they went through leadership. But you and me know very well what then happened."

There are opponents circling that tell me privately that they think the prime minister, when faced with Andy Burnham back in Westminster - should he win the Makerfield by-election - as well as facing more pressure from cabinet ministers and MPs clamouring for him to go, will give way.

You can see a list of all the candidates standing in the Makerfield by-election here

They think that Starmer won't want to put the country through a leadership race. And what else can he say anyhow?

He's taken that calculation that if he wants to have any hope of pushing through some of his legacy policies and remaining in the job for a little more time, he has to project confidence, be magnanimous, rise above the fray, behave as a prime minister is expected to.

For my part, I can't see into his Starmer's soul, but his allies insist he will not give way, and I am inclined to agree.

Someone who has worked closely with him described him as "conceited" in his refusal to face up to his situation and set out a timetable.

More supportive politicians describe Starmer as honourable and resilient and say the prime minister has surveyed the challengers and concluded that, in this moment, he is the best man to be prime minister when it comes to making decisions on Iran, Ukraine, and the economy.

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Equally, his allies recognise that he will likely need to give way before a general election if he cannot win over the public.

They acknowledge the party might need a better politician, a better communicator.

As Angela Rayner told The Mirror this week when asked about whether it was too late to achieve the change needed under Starmer's government: "I'm not answering your question direct. I think it is very hard to escape the feeling the public have towards Keir."

Of course, maybe Starmer seems more relaxed now because he has little left to lose. He knows that his fate is largely beyond his control.

He managed to block Burnham from returning to government for the Gorton and Denton by-election, but he didn't have the authority to try to do that again.

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Instead, he's trying to push it long, offer Burnham a cabinet job, press him to focus on keeping Manchester's Mayoralty for Labour. Play for time and see what happens.

His detractors want to call time on his leadership, to give Labour the chance to try to win back voters before the next general election.

Wes Streeting has this week said again that he has the numbers to trigger a contest, and the PM could face a challenge next week if he doesn't agree to set out his timetable.

Another very senior colleague points out the current crisis "isn't about Andy Burnham coming for Starmer's job, it's about the PM having lost it. That if it wasn't Burnham, it would be someone else".

From every angle, it looks too far gone for Starmer, but he showed in Evian this week that he's not done quite yet.

(c) Sky News 2026: Starmer is not an easy PM to interview - but he came to G7 armed with a message