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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the leader is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

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

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, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

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

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said 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 stated for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted 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 following an outcry when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to