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"I'll remain in this seat by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our discussion went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

There is never any time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing no one would take his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

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

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, should he consider a different script?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

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 controversy when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to