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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his political fate are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to improve. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration put in place during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM 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 following an controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting evident political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy 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 notion he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to