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"I will remain in this office by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him in 2026.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

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

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally eager for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

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

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry 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 system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences 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 elicit protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to