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"I will remain in this office by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, 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 usual, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

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

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", insisting no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

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

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting clear political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship 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 opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics wanted him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been simmering tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to