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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

There is 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 working to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the leader is that numerous of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I intend to guide the party," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to change. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been bubbling tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to