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"I will remain in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if the discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never truly downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

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

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him this year.

But Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I intend to guide the party," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps excessively, 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 – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to change. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

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

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

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

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for 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 next few days.

And there has always been growing desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will please some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to