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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if our discussion was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for another conversation in the coming year.

There is rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his standing are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him this year.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue 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 sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, 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 be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to change. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me 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 previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

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