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"I will remain in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if our discussion went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", maintaining no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning 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.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to get better. He sought to assure me, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new 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 comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

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 following an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to