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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are about to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to change. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, should he consider a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's strikes 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 at ease with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to denounce it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

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