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"I will remain in this position by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever break for those in the top job. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

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

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to get better. He tried to assure me, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

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

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, does he need a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former 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 told me he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been growing desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to