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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was much longer than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

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

The Spring Test

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

True – in part. But even though he may not want to concede 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, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration 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 put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing calls from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, does he need a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for 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 not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to