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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, adding that if our discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly downtime for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

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

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

"This is the battle of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to get better. He sought to assure the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is facing obvious political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the results that followed Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to