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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another chat in the coming year.

There is never any time off for prime ministers. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are about to improve?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and get him out in 2026.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I intend to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps 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.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed 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 soon the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering pressure from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

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

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to