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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly break for leaders. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that a significant number of his party members believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him 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", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to assure me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government implemented during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central point is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

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

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer 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 courting clear political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been growing desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to