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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if our conversation was successful, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", insisting nobody would take his term from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to change. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration implemented during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

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

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, should he consider a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me 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 following an backlash when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to