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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

There is rarely ever downtime for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about 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 not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably impatient for things to get better. He tried to assure me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time 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 offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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 facing evident political risks as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

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

Some called for him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely provoke protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

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