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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation in 2026.

There is never any time off for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the sluggish end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are about to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining no one would strip his term from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to concede 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 one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to assure me, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely 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 integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central argument 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 while – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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