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"I'll be sitting in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. In the hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before 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.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to get better. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

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 only because governing is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

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 after an outcry when comments he'd previously made – including 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 more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to