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"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing nobody would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from within his own party for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been bubbling desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to