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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up talk next year.

There is never any break for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that many of his party members think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to get better. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration implemented during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central argument is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after 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 "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to