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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

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

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to change. He sought to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to