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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if our conversation went well, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up chat next year.

There is rarely ever break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and oust him in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing nobody would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I aim to lead us," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to get better. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration enacted during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, should he consider a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted 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 "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to