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"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, adding that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another talk in the coming year.

There is rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are about to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him this year.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting no one would remove his term from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I intend to guide the party," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop 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 catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their initial choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, does he need a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy after Trump's military action 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 idea he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

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

Opponents called for him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

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