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"I'll be sitting in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if the discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

There is never truly break for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his standing are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that many of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso 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 allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret 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 past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" 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 gets going. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been bubbling tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to