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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

There is never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that a significant number of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would step down, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to get better. He sought to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" 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 – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will likely provoke accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to