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"I will be positioned in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the interview was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another talk in the coming year.

There is never any time off for leaders. Just an hour before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

The May Elections

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

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

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, does he need a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

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