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"I'll remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, 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 finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to change. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big message is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, 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 was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to