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"I'll be positioned in this office by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is rarely ever break for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of a rest 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 end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to get better. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government enacted during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret 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 controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting obvious political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that followed Brexit.

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