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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if the discussion was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for another conversation in 2026.

There is never any time off for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the PM is that a significant number of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

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

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted 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 following an backlash when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting clear political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention 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 at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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