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"I will remain in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Number 10 for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

There is never truly downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that many of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and oust him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The challenge 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 protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to change. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration enacted during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering 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".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy some on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to