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"I'll be sitting in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the interview was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk next year.

There is never any downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have left him in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

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

Predicting a Turnaround

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

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration enacted during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

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

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication 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 his career, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Some wanted him to condemn it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been growing desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to