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"I will remain in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if our discussion was successful, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The issue 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 attempted to argue, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably impatient for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central message is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

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

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

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 outcry when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to