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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up chat next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and remove him in 2026.

But Sir Keir 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 take his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM 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, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on 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 implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably impatient for things to change. He aimed to assure me, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back 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.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to