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"I'll be sitting in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our interview went well, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation in 2026.

There is never truly time off for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting no one would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I intend to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps too much, 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 although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy 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 many years, the idea he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

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

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

There has also consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

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