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"I will be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, adding that if our discussion was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

There is rarely ever break for those in the top job. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining nobody would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though 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 circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – 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 facing obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been bubbling tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

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