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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if our interview went well, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his political fate are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

But Sir Keir was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining no one would take his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

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

True – in part. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

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

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably impatient for things to change. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration put in place during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister 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 past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting evident political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to