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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," Starmer declared, joking that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up talk next year.

There is rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Multiple times he insisted he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining 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 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to change. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration enacted during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central message is that this year 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 while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing pressure from within his own party for a bolder approach, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the notion he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also long been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely elicit howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

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