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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if the interview went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the fight of our times and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. 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 implying that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to get better. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration enacted during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

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

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer 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 facing evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Opponents called for him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

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