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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if the conversation went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another chat next year.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his standing are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him this year.

But Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting no one would take his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to change. He sought to convince me, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with much more political vision, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, does he need a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

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

Some demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to