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"I'll remain in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and oust him this year.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I plan to guide the party," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – 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 scenario under which he would resign, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to change. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

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

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when comments he'd previously made – such as 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 more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will please a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to