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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat next year.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his big 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 typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He tried to assure me, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister 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 backlash when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

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

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

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