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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if our interview was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that many of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political perils as the year progresses. 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 many years, the thought he would be content with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been growing pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to