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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if the conversation was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up chat in 2026.

There is never truly break for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have left him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him this year.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

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 tried to protest, 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 – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to get better. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted 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 outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been growing tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to