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"I will remain in this office by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

There is rarely ever break for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time 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

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

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

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible 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 some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy 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 his career, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Critics called for him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to