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"I'll remain in the same office by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the discussion was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk next year.

There is never any break for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his standing are about to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the leader is that many of his party members believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

However Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to change. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central point is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, 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, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is courting clear political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with these events 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".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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