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"I will remain in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, noting that if the discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his party members believe he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the poll", insisting no one would take his term from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to guide the party," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to improve. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as planned.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been simmering tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to