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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if the interview went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

There is rarely ever break for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted 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 bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him this year.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps too much, that they are about 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 be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to improve. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with increased political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, does he need a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

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

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

And he is courting clear political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to