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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a little a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the leader is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge 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 resign, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister 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 controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – including 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 more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication 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 a long period, the notion he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded denounce it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new specific plan to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European market – will likely elicit accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to