PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer is “staying the course” while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is “not giving up on our country,” according to their new year statements.

Lib Dems’ Sir Ed Davey pledged to stop Reform’s Nigel Farage taking over the country, while Mr Farage is offering a return to “proper values.”

The party leaders offered these commitments in the traditional, and traditionally banal, new year messages from leading politicians.

The Prime Minister, who, of the four, is least likely to be still in place by the end of 2026 according to polls, claimed that the government is “getting Britain back on track.”

“By staying the course, we will defeat the decline and division offered by others,” he said.

He acknowledged that “things have been tough in Britain for a while” but warned that “renewal is not an overnight job” and “the challenges we face were decades in the making.”

“For many, life is still harder than it should be,” Sir Keir said, adding: “In 2026, the choices we’ve made will mean more people will begin to feel positive change in your bills, your communities and your health service.

“But even more people will feel once again a sense of hope, a belief that things can and will get better, feel that the promise of renewal can become a reality, and my government will make it that reality.”

Ms Badenoch, whose fortunes have modestly improved from an extremely low base in recent months, attacked “the politics of grievance,” which is what the Tories are now trading on.

“Many in our country are finding it harder and harder to imagine life getting better. But we shouldn’t lose hope,” Ms Badenoch said.

“Britain is not destined for decline. We are a great country full of talent, humour and strength. Things can change, but only if we have a plan for change.

“That’s why my Conservative team are working on a policy programme to get Britain working again.

“I’m not giving up on our country. And I hope you won’t either!”

Sir Ed said the party will go into the new year looking for election wins to “stop Trump’s America becoming Farage’s Britain” and offering “change for the better.”

In his own new year’s message, Reform’s boss said his poll-topping party would go about “fundamentally changing the whole system of government in Britain” if it won the next general election.

“We may well be the last chance this country has to actually restore some proper values,” Mr Farage asserted, which turned out to be “family, community, country.”

All the leaders are focused on May elections for the Scottish parliament, Welsh Senedd and local councils across England, which are likely to upend the political map.