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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

There is never any break for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are about to get better?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication 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 notion he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

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