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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him this year.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting nobody would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to change. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

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

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents called for him to denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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