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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the conversation went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and oust him this year.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

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 sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration implemented during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, does he need a new narrative?

No government, and especially 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 team have faltered, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been growing pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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