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"I'll be sitting in this office by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the conversation was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat next year.

There is never any break for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to get better?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing no one would strip his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

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

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration enacted during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said 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 revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

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

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, does he need a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to