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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, joking that if our conversation was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation in 2026.

There is never any downtime for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little relaxation 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 saggy end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and remove him this year.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I plan to lead us," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to improve. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core point is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

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

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy 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 more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to