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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any time off for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his standing are poised to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

But Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I aim to lead us," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe excessively, 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 concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to get better. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

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

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been simmering desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to