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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the conversation went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, 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 normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

However Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a bolder strategy, with much more political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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

Starmer blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the decisions that followed Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to