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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and oust him in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to improve. He aimed to assure me, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

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

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big argument is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

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

But despite facing demands from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, does he need a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention 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 idea he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to