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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another talk in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are about to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the PM is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably anxious for things to change. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso 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 stated for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central message is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The prime minister 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 bolder strategy, with increased political vision, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing obvious political risks as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to