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"I'll remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the interview went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never any break for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his standing are about to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted 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 blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes 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 content with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering tension in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to