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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for another chat in 2026.

There is never any break for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth 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 lengthy talk, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

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

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He sought to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me 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 after an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to