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"I will be positioned in this position by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if our conversation went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", maintaining nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he said.

The Spring Test

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

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to improve. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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 governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been growing tension in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

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