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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his standing are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the poll", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back 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 – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting evident political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes 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 idea he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Critics demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger 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 delight some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to