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"I'll be sitting in the same office by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat in the coming year.

There is rarely ever break for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

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

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I aim to guide the party," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – 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 walk away, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

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

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to