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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the discussion was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat next year.

There is rarely ever break for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his standing are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining no one would remove 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.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to get better. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central point is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

No administration, 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 hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year gets going. His friendship 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 many years, the idea he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been growing desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to