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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

However Sir Keir was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to change. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, should he consider a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret 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 backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be at ease with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

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

And there has consistently been growing tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to