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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is never any time off for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they believe his political fate are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", insisting nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

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

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when policies the government put in place during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

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

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is facing obvious political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been growing tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to