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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if the conversation was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his standing are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his party members think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to get better. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for 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 made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to