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"I will remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", maintaining no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to get better. He aimed to assure me, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted 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 past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship 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 many years, the thought he would be content with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to