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"I will remain in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any break for prime ministers. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his standing are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I plan to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to get better. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" 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 – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance 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 his career, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics called for him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been bubbling tension in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

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