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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, adding that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another chat in 2026.

There is never any downtime for leaders. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his standing are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that many of his party members are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and oust him in 2026.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I intend to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

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

Promises of Improvement

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to get better. He tried to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when policies the administration put in place during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His central message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, should he consider a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

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

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

And he is courting evident political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new jeopardy 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 thought he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded criticise the action before the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been simmering desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably provoke protests that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to