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"I'll be sitting in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if our interview was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat in 2026.

There is never any downtime for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The Spring Test

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

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to change. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big point is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Opponents demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been growing tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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