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"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is never any break for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

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

That certainly seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his standing are set to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting no one would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I intend to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action before the interview. 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 simmering tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will please some on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to