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"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if the interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another talk in 2026.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

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

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining no one would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" 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 – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "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 courting clear political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention 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 content with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been growing tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely provoke protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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