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"I will be positioned in this office by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for prime ministers. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his political fate are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

But Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining no one would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to concede 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 walk away, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to get better. He sought to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "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 facing clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

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