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"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the conversation went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

There is never any time off for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I plan to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, 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 combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted 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 backlash when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting evident political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been bubbling desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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