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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our conversation was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his standing are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him in 2026.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would take his term from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted 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.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged 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 colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

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

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political direction, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, does he need a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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 facing clear political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails 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 a long period, the idea he would be content with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

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