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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if our interview was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I intend to guide the party," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably eager for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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

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

And he is facing evident political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on 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 many years, the thought he would be content with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the results that followed Brexit.

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