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"I will be positioned in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our interview went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly break for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him this year.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I intend to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably eager for things to get better. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

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