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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our interview went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a little a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to improve. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion 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 message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "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 definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit howls that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to