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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is never any time off for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to get better. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

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

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting obvious political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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