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"I will be positioned in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our interview was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

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

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out this year.

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

Repeatedly he insisted he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would take his term from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

"We are in the fight of our generation and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

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

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed 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 possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some called for him to denounce it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been simmering tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to