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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his political fate are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to change. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely 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 offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, does he need a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to