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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if our interview went well, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind 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 improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are about to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that numerous of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to improve. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching 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 progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been simmering desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to