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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if the interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for prime ministers. Just an hour before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than usual, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and remove him in 2026.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I aim to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably impatient for things to get better. He sought to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration enacted during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

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

But despite facing demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" 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 – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires 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 idea he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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