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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if our conversation was successful, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another conversation in the coming year.

There is never any downtime for leaders. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his political fate are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the PM is that a significant number of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining no one would take his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He sought to assure me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is facing evident political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication 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 comfortable with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

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

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to