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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if our discussion went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

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

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the PM is that many of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing no one would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I aim to guide the party," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to improve. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement 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 talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core argument is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, does he need a different script?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret 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 controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be content with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke howls that he is breaking his vow never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

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