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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if our conversation was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would strip his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to change. He tried to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure 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 PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from many directions for a bolder strategy, with much more political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to