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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, joking that if the interview was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his standing are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

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

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to