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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer 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 launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", maintaining no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to improve. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government implemented during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big argument is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is courting clear political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Some demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been simmering pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to