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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up chat next year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for prime ministers. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a little a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have put him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that numerous of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him in 2026.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I plan to lead us," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

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

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to change. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

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

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for failing to identify 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 progresses. His alliance with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to