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"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps 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.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to improve. He aimed to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing demands from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, should he consider a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting evident political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's military action 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 this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to