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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation next year.

There is rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are about to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the PM is that many of his party members believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the general election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to contend, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration enacted during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, is a different approach required a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is hard, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing evident political risks as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been growing desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to align more closely with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please a faction on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to