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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if our conversation was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was much longer than usual, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the fight 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 judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to change. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back 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 "the system" 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 perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely provoke protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the results that followed Brexit.

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