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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another talk in the coming year.

There is never any downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of 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 saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

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

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out in 2026.

But Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, 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 concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to improve. He aimed to assure me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration enacted during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political vision, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing evident political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action 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 content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to