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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for another conversation in 2026.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his standing are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him this year.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge 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 governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to concede 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 resign, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He sought to assure me, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration enacted during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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