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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

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

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his party members think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining nobody would take his term 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 struggle of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to 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 scenario under which he would step down, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

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

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration enacted during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with much more political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its own way.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister 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 after an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on 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 a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

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