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"I will remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into his official residence for another talk in 2026.

There is never any time off for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was much longer than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to get better. He aimed to assure me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He committed 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 proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting evident political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been bubbling tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

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