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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up chat next year.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his political fate are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would take his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to change. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of 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 – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the results that followed Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to