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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

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

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the PM is that a significant number of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. 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 situation under which he would step down, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to get better. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core point is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, should he consider a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted 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 statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting evident political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk 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 thought he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been growing pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to