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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if our interview was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up talk next year.

There is rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his standing are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out in 2026.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The May Elections

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

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated 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 MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration put in place during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big 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 some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails 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 many years, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

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