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"I will remain in this office by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the conversation was successful, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for leaders. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the PM is that a significant number of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", maintaining nobody would strip his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

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 across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of 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 foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to