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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if our conversation was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are about to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought 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.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would resign, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably anxious for things to change. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government implemented during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

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

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been simmering tension in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to