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"I will remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the interview went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to change. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer 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 integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance 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 opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to