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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is rarely ever break for leaders. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM 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 too much, that they are concerning 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 acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He tried to persuade me, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

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

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing 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 "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "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 gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely elicit howls that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to