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"I will be positioned in the same position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies deluding themselves if they believe his standing are poised to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh truth for the PM is that numerous of his party members think he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I intend to lead us," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to improve. He aimed to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government implemented during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with greater political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His alliance 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 opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to