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"I will remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is never truly break for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer seems to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have left him in better spirits than at the sluggish end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his political fate are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government implemented during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

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

No administration, and especially 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 government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is facing clear political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European market – will likely elicit protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to