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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, 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 those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have left him in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

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

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to