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"I'll be sitting in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Starmer seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably impatient for things to get better. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

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

Starmer blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to