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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation next year.

For a PM, there's never any time off for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing no one would strip his term from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I aim to lead us," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government enacted during their first rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering calls from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more urgency, 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 government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister 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 – resurfaced.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting obvious political dangers as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been simmering pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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