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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for another chat in 2026.

There is never any downtime for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his political fate are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I intend to guide the party," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably impatient for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to