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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting nobody would strip his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged long before 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 councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

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

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration enacted during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his team have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes 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 comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to