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"I'll remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly break for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that many of his party members are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", maintaining no one would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

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

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government enacted during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He said 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 major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy 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 idea he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been bubbling desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to