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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat next year.

There is never truly time off for leaders. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his standing are set to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the leader is that many of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I plan to lead us," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably impatient for things to get better. He aimed to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration implemented during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted 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 outcry when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

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

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to