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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining no one would strip his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister 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 following an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been growing tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely provoke accusations that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to