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"I'll remain in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if the discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that many of his party members are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to concede 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, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He aimed to assure me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big message is that soon 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, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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