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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly break for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the leader is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him this year.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to change. He tried to assure me, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the administration enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to