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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation in the coming year.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for prime ministers. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have left him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his political fate are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM 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 excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

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

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His big argument is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

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

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting clear political dangers as the year gets going. His alliance 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 notion he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that flowed 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