"I'll remain in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if the interview was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk next year.
For a PM, there's never any time off for prime ministers. Shortly before our chat started, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.
When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.
With the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.
This appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.
Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to get better?
The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him this year.
But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.
Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", maintaining nobody would strip his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.
"This is the struggle of our generation and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.
The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across 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.
True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.
Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.
He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be distinct.
The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.
His core message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".
The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.
But despite facing demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.
When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?
No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.
Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.
The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.
Starmer attributed it to "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.
And he is inviting clear political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.
Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems implausible.
He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".
Critics demanded denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.
And there has consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.
Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.
A decision to cosy up to 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
Lena Hoffmann is a seasoned journalist with a passion for uncovering stories that matter, specializing in German current affairs and digital media trends.
