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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if our discussion was successful, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up chat next year.

There is rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the PM is that numerous of his party members think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me 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 backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A move 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