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"I'll be sitting in this position by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the conversation went well, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I plan to lead us," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to change. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just 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 was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger protests that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to