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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if the discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

There is never any time off for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that numerous of his party members think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting nobody would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to 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 stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to change. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government put in place during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big point is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk 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 idea he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to undo the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will please a faction on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to