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"I'll remain in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little a rest with the 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 sluggish end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

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

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. 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 step down, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to change. He sought to assure me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from within his own party for a bolder approach, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, does he need a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret 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 past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

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".

Some called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

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