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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if the interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another chat next year.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. Just an hour before our chat started, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they believe his standing are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and get him out in 2026.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting no one would take his term from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "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 inviting evident political perils as the year progresses. 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 former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been growing tension in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the decisions that followed Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to