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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, adding that if the conversation went well, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

There is rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated 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, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to improve. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central argument is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

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

But despite encountering calls from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

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 after an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably provoke protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to