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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into his official residence for another conversation in the coming year.

There is rarely ever break for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his standing are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that many of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to improve. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement 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 talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big argument is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing demands from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

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

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of 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 – came to light.

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

And he is inviting obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands 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.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge 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 integrate into more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to