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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining no one would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to change. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to 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