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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining nobody would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the fight of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core message is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

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

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "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 inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- 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.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to