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"I will remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, noting that if our conversation was successful, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another chat in the coming year.

There is never any downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his standing are about to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his party members are convinced he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I aim to guide the party," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to get better. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a new date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core point is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

A Consistent Script

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

However, in spite of encountering calls from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, should he consider a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret 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 following an outcry when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer blamed "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political dangers as the year gets going. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics wanted him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been simmering desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his backbenches, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to