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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's never any downtime 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 working to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I aim to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is courting evident political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires 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 idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to