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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for prime ministers. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, 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 something of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing no one would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to get better. He tried to assure me, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core argument is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing evident political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Some demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been simmering pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to