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"I'll be positioned in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, noting that if the interview was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed 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 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to change. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been growing tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to