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"I will remain in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if our conversation went well, he might welcome us into his official residence for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", maintaining nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I plan to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration implemented during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central argument is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to