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"I'll be sitting in the same office by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

But Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to improve. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

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

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political vision, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been growing tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to