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"I'll be sitting in this office by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if our discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to change. He aimed to assure me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret 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 statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been simmering tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the single market – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to