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"I'll remain in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are about to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting nobody would strip his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably impatient for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be a change.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the administration put in place during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central point is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

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

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, does he need a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash 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 "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been growing tension in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably elicit protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to