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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our conversation was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him this year.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration enacted during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing pressure from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM 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 backlash when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president entails 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 a long period, the idea he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

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

There has also always been growing tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to