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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out in 2026.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to get better. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

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

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate 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".

Political Challenges

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

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, should he consider a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier 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 entails a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

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

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to