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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the conversation was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little 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 end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I aim to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to get better. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration enacted during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

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

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting obvious political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to integrate into 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