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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, noting that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation in 2026.

There is never truly downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are about to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

But Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing no one would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to change. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite encountering pressure from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been bubbling desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

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