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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the interview was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh 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 relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have left him in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his standing are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", maintaining nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to change. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration enacted during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted 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 after an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to