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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if our conversation was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

There is never truly 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 working to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

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

Opponents demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to