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"I'll be sitting in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was much longer than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting no one would strip his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to get better. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the full picture at the moment".

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

There has also consistently been growing pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that followed Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to