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"I will remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if the discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never truly downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

But Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps too much, 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 although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He tried to convince me, and the public, that this year would be different.

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

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing demands from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

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

Opponents wanted him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been growing desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to