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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if the interview was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

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

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner 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 told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would resign, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to get better. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration implemented during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new 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 time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core point is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from within his own party for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret 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 backlash when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" 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 perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes 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 idea he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

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

Opponents called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to