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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

There is never any break for those in the top job. Just an hour before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

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

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they believe his standing are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his party members believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", maintaining no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably eager for things to improve. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

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 after an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Critics wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

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