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"I will remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for another conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer 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 courting obvious political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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