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"I will be sitting in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly break for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir 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 targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to get better. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to show results.

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

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

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been growing tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to