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"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the interview was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. In the hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him this year.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I plan to lead us," he affirmed.

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 throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to get better. He tried to assure me, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government put in place during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister 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 comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

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