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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if the conversation was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly break for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his standing are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the PM is that many of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to change. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

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

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

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

But despite facing demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

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

Starmer blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be content with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been growing tension in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

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