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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if our conversation went well, he might invite us into his official residence for another conversation next year.

There is never truly break for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to admit 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, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to get better. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government implemented during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central point is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

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

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, 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 own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk 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 comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been growing desire 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 more concrete commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to