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"I'll remain in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our conversation went well, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his political fate are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to improve. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration put in place during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been growing tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to