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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our conversation was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another talk next year.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out this year.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I aim to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government implemented during their first turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

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

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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

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

And he is inviting evident political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to