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"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if the discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up talk next year.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. Shortly before our chat started, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

But Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to change. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, does he need a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his team have erred, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

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 controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing evident political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication 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 his career, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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