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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the conversation went well, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another talk in the coming year.

There is rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a reboot. Perhaps even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

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

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting no one would take his term 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.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

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

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

Promises of Improvement

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably impatient for things to improve. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace agreement 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 talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting clear political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes 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 thought he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents called for him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely trigger howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to