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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," Starmer remarked, joking that if the interview went well, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is never any time off for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his standing are poised to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the PM is that a significant number of his fellow MPs are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

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

The May Elections

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

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration enacted during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His core point is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, does he need a different script?

No administration, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "just do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer plan to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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