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"I'll remain in the same seat by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up chat next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year commences, Starmer seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have left him in better spirits than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his standing are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and remove him this year.

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

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing nobody would strip his term from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit 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 resign, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to get better. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central argument is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from within his own party for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

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

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been simmering desire 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 specific plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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