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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting no one would take his term from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM 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 backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will please some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to