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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into his official residence for another talk in the coming year.

There is rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they reckon his political fate are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the PM is that a significant number of his party members believe he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and remove him this year.

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

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

"This is the battle of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to change. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been growing tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

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