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"I'll remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if the interview was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for another chat next year.

There is never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to improve?

Party Concerns

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

However Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration enacted during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to