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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if our interview was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat next year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the leader is that numerous of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and remove him in 2026.

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

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to change. He tried to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central argument is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been simmering desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

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