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"I will be positioned in this office by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

There is never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to change. He sought to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration enacted during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big argument is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from within his own party for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

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

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

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics called for him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to