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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and remove him in 2026.

But Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably impatient for things to change. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government put in place during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's intervention 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 comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it before the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

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