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"I will be sitting in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if the interview went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our times and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to change. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back 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 – came to light.

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

And he is inviting obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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