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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never any downtime for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer appears to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are about to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out in 2026.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though 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 challenged him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a bolder approach, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of 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 – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing evident political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's intervention 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 thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to