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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are set to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out this year.

But Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, 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 not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government put in place during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners 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 soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is facing evident political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to