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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if our interview was successful, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another talk next year.

For a PM, there's never any break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his standing are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and get him out this year.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing no one would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a bolder strategy, with much more political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting clear political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Critics demanded denounce it before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to