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"I will remain in the same seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably impatient for things to change. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their first rocky 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 said too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

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 after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting clear political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be content with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will likely elicit accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to