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"I'll be sitting in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for leaders. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to get better. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

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

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing evident political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on 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 his career, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to