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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his political fate are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting no one would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I plan to guide the party," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to improve. He sought to assure me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central message is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" 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 – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

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

And there has always been growing pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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