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"I will be sitting in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

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

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the PM is that many of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. 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 suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to change. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government enacted during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

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

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

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