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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the interview went well, he might invite us into his official residence for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime 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 work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to get better. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central argument is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, does he need a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is challenging, 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 "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be content with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to