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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the interview went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never truly time off for prime ministers. Just an hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are about to turn around?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and remove him in 2026.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret 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 backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be content with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

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