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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's never any break for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

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

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret 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 outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His friendship 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 was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke protests that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A move 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