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"I will remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, noting that if our conversation went well, he might invite us into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his standing are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I intend to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing pressure from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president entails a new complication 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 many years, the thought he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to