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"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his standing are about to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing evident political risks as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new risk 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 idea he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy many on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to