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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever break for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that numerous of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

However Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing no one would strip his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to change. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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 courting obvious political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy 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 his career, the thought he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been simmering pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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