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"I'll be positioned in this seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk next year.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

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

That certainly seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his political fate are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting no one would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I plan to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to improve. He sought to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core point is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd previously made – 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 fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to