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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This 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?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about 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 even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably anxious for things to change. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

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

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed 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 told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to