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"I'll be sitting in this office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

There is never truly break for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

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

This appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to change. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much 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, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting evident political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been growing tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to