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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that many of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to change. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with much more political vision, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted 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 previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His friendship 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 at ease with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear 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 outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to