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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and get him out this year.

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

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "evaluated at the poll", maintaining nobody would strip his term 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.

"We are in the battle of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although 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 step down, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably impatient for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big argument is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from within his own party for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action before 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 always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

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