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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the interview was successful, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing no one would strip his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably eager for things to get better. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

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 backlash when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting evident political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes 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 content with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been growing desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably provoke protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to