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"I'll be sitting in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if the interview went well, he might invite us into his official residence for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for leaders. Just an hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that many of his party members are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the fight of our times and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably eager for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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