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"I'll be positioned in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our discussion was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are about to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the leader is that many of his party members think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

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

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to switch its 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 PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, maybe excessively, 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 even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated 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 ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to get better. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires 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 his career, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to