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"I will be positioned in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up talk next year.

There is never any time off for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his standing are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably impatient for things to improve. He aimed to persuade me, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

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

Starmer blamed "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 risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted 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 criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably provoke howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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