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"I will be positioned in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for leaders. Just an hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer appears 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 resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, 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 time that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with much more political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

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

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing evident political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

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

And there has long been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to