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"I will be positioned in this position by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if the discussion was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, Starmer seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to get better?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would take 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 its leader.

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

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to admit 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 walk away, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally impatient for things to improve. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European market – will probably provoke howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to