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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the conversation went well, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his political fate are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central message is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a bolder approach, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, should he consider a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir 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 inviting evident political risks as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing 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 these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

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