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"I'll be positioned in the same position by 2027," Starmer remarked, noting that if the interview went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is never truly time off for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had finished, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

But are he and his allies being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are set to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably impatient for things to improve. He sought to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central point is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, should he consider a change of tack?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been bubbling pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

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