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"I'll be sitting in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is never any time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

But Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

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 sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to get better. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration implemented during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, should he consider a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to