"I will be sitting in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat in 2026.
There is rarely ever time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.
By the time our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.
With the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.
That certainly appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.
Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are about to turn around?
The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.
But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.
On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.
"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.
The issue 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, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.
Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.
Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.
He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to improve. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.
The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration put in place during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.
His big point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".
The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.
However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.
Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?
No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.
Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.
The PM told me 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 after an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.
Starmer blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.
And he is facing obvious political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action 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 content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.
He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".
Opponents called for him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.
And there has long been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.
The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.
A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to
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