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"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to change. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted 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 past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "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 facing clear political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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