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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if our discussion went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

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

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

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration put in place during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He added 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 major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has always been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to