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"I'll be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are about to turn around?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, 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 – in part. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core argument is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of facing calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, should he consider a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd previously made – such as 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 fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political perils 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 a long period, the thought he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new specific plan to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably elicit protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to