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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the conversation went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat next year.

There is never any break for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are about to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that numerous of his party members think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to improve. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

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

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back 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 – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires 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 his career, the thought he would be content with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with 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