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"I will be sitting in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

But Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to get better. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, should he consider a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" 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 obvious political risks as the year unfolds. His friendship 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 opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

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

Some demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will please some on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to