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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if the discussion was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to improve. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back 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 – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to denounce it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been growing desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely elicit howls 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 many on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to