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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

There is rarely ever time off for leaders. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just some a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they think his political fate are about to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that a significant number of his fellow MPs think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

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

Multiple times he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

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

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to contend, 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 even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally eager for things to change. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration implemented during their first rocky year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, does he need a new narrative?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been simmering pressure in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer pledge to move closer with the single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to