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"I'll remain in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to change. He sought to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics wanted him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been simmering pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

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