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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is never any downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his standing are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the PM is that many of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the struggle of our generation and I aim to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally eager for things to get better. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration enacted during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central message is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, should he consider a different script?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with these events seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but the public "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to