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"I'll be positioned in this office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our interview went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is never truly time off for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him in 2026.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I plan to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, 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 – to some extent. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to get better. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central argument is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be at ease with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been bubbling desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely elicit howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to