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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is rarely ever break for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his standing are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to improve. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be different.

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

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, should he consider a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" 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 evident political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy many on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to