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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another conversation in the coming year.

There is rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

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

That certainly seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his standing are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining nobody would take his term from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, 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 – to some extent. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should a his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to get better. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing pressure from within his own party for a bolder approach, with much more political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

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

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister 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 following an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will delight many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to