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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining no one would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to change. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

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

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

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

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM 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 following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to