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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if the interview was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He sought to convince me, and the public, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration enacted during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big argument is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to