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"I will remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

There is rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to change. He sought to convince me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard 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 renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, does he need a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political risks as the year unfolds. 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 content with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably provoke howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that followed Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to