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"I will remain in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if the discussion went well, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his standing are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the PM is that a significant number of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing nobody would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged 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 very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to improve. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

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