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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if the discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may not want to admit 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, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed 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 potential peace.

His big point is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

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