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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the conversation went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

There is never any time off for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to change. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret 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 outcry when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be content with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to