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"I will be sitting in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if the conversation was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that many of his party members are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

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

True – in part. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to change. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

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

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

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

And there has always been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the choices that flowed 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