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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if the discussion was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly break for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

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

However Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, 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.

Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to improve. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration implemented during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big message is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to