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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, noting that if our interview was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for leaders. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated 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 bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

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 government is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM 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 after an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably provoke howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into 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