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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if our interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is never any break for prime ministers. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to improve. He tried to assure me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal 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 allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from within his own party for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been growing pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to