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"I will remain in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the conversation was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never any break for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

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

This seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are about to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the leader is that a significant number of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government implemented during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big argument is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

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 facing 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.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is facing evident political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit howls that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse 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 simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to