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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if the discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

There is never any break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the fight of our times and I aim to guide the party," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably impatient for things to change. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, does he need a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is courting clear political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to