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"I will be positioned in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat next year.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

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

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to concede 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 be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to change. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

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

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted 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 outcry when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication 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 his career, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please some on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to