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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, joking that if our interview was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly break for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

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

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, does he need a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

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