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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another talk in the coming year.

There is never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are poised to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me 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 after an backlash when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "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 courting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to