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"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the conversation was successful, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up chat next year.

There is rarely ever downtime for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his standing are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," 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 throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, does he need a change of tack?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret 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 controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on 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 thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded denounce it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably provoke protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will please many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to