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"I'll be positioned in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, noting that if our discussion went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

There is rarely ever time off for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his standing are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to admit 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 walk away, should a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to change. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's intervention 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 content with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. 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 growing tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the single market – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

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