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

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing no one would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to improve. He sought to convince me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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 only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry 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 failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year progresses. 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 was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics wanted him to denounce it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to