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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if our discussion went well, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that many of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance 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 plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder approach, with greater political vision, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed 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 these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics wanted him to denounce it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to