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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another talk in the coming year.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that numerous of his party members think he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining nobody would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the fight of our times and I aim to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, 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.

True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged 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 challenged him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to improve. He tried to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing demands from within his own party for a bolder approach, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted 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 outcry when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year progresses. His close relationship 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 opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably elicit protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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