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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for another talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than usual, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and oust him in 2026.

However Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I plan to guide the party," he declared.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations 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 evaluated by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to improve. He tried to convince me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing evident political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably trigger protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

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