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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another talk next year.

There is never any downtime for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that numerous of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing no one would strip his term from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to improve. He tried to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering demands from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM 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 outcry when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

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

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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