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"I will be sitting in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, joking that if the conversation was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than usual, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his standing are about to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the fight of our times and I plan to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to change. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government put in place during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

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

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as 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 fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to