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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat next year.

There is never any downtime for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to change. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central argument is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

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 challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" 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 "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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