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"I will be positioned in this position by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if our discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for prime ministers. Shortly before our chat started, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

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

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, maybe 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 not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably impatient for things to change. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

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

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight many on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to