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"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if our discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat next year.

There is never any time off for leaders. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little relaxation 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 sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the PM is that many of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him this year.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I aim to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with much more political vision, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, does he need a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret 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 controversy when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" 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 progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to