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"I'll be positioned in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He tried to assure me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration put in place during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister 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 backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is facing obvious political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to