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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that numerous of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

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

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to change. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

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 after an controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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 courting obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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