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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is never truly break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

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

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing no one would take his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. 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 scenario under which he would step down, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to improve. He sought to assure me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me 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 backlash when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing evident political risks as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on 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 many years, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been growing tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to