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"I'll remain in this position by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his standing are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out this year.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably impatient for things to get better. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me 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 after an outcry when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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 facing clear political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's intervention 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 thought he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply lack 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 more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been growing pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to