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"I will be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if our interview was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any time off for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his standing are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to improve. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

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

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

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is facing evident political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication 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.

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics wanted him to condemn it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to