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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

There is never any downtime for leaders. Just an hour before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have left him in better spirits than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations 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 suggesting that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to improve. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including 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 after an controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting obvious political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to