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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for another conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his political fate are set to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

But Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing nobody would take his term from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be content with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

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

There has also always been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to undo the decisions that followed Brexit.

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