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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if our interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever break for those in the top job. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are about to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, maybe 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 even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to change. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

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

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not catching 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 gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been simmering desire 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 integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will likely elicit accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to