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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," Starmer stated, adding that if the conversation went well, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

But Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting nobody would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I intend to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to change. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration enacted during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big message is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in this much political peril, should he consider 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 problems are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer 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 inviting evident political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to