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"I'll be positioned in this seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, the PM 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 attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

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

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his standing are about to turn around?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and get him out in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to concede 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, even if one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to improve. He tried to persuade me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

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

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "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 evident political risks as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

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

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely provoke protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to