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"I will remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for another talk in the coming year.

There is never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to change. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His friendship 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 a long period, the idea he would be content with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been growing desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to