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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if our interview was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for another talk next year.

There is never any downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the PM is that a significant number of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to get better. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted 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 previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is courting obvious political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

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

And there has consistently been bubbling tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the single market – the vast economic European market – will likely elicit howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to