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"I'll remain in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our discussion was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to change. He tried to persuade me, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of 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 – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

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

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been growing tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to