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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

But Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. 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 implying that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

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

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

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

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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

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

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to