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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if our discussion was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation in the coming year.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his standing are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to change. He sought to assure me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" 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 – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's military action 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 content with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European market – will likely elicit howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to