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"I'll remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if the interview was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

There is never truly time off for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

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

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

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I plan to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to admit 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 one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably impatient for things to change. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke howls that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to