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"I will be positioned in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if the conversation went well, he might welcome the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up talk next year.

There is rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

With the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are poised to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh reality for the leader is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting no one would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I plan to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably impatient for things to change. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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 encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

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

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its as planned.

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

Controversies and Dangers

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

Starmer attributed it to "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 risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action 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 these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

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

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to