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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the discussion was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

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

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to get better?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining nobody would strip his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted 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.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to admit 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 walk away, should a his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government put in place during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

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

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably trigger howls that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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