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"I will remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth 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.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to change. He sought to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core point is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, 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 dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

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

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention 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 such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been growing tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to