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"I'll be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I aim to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem 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 tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

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

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement 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 considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big point is that soon 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 – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing pressure from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

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

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

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