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"I'll be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for another conversation next year.

There is rarely ever time off for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his political fate are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", maintaining nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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 following an backlash when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been bubbling tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to