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"I'll be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if our discussion went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any time off for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have left him in a more positive mood than at the difficult end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are set to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the leader is that many of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and oust him in 2026.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to get better. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core argument is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite encountering pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

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

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics wanted him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been growing desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to