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"I'll be sitting in the same office by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the conversation went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to get better?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", maintaining nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to get better. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration enacted during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

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

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to