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"I'll be positioned in this seat by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our conversation was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

There is never truly time off for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, should a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably anxious for things to improve. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the administration implemented during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big message is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political difficulty, is a different approach required a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret 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 outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not realising 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 progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former 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 implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to