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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the interview went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining nobody would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to get better. He sought to convince me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core argument is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

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 following an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for failing to identify 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 alliance with the US president takes on 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 a long period, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to