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"I'll remain in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the conversation was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

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

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to get better. He sought to assure me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government put in place during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" 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 – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new risk 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 idea he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

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