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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the interview was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for another conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that many of his party members think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the general election", insisting no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, 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.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably anxious for things to change. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political vision, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he regretted 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 – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics called for him to condemn it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been bubbling pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to