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"I will remain in the same position by 2027," Starmer declared, adding that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for another chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never truly break for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing no one would strip his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I intend 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 huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would resign, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to improve. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

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

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Critics demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to