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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if the conversation was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another chat next year.

There is never any downtime for leaders. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to improve. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core argument is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" 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 – came to light.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on 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 notion he would be at ease with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Opponents demanded denounce it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger howls that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to