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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that many of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to get better. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action 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 such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

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

There has also always been growing pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to