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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if the discussion was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for another conversation next year.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly seemed to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his political fate are set to improve?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and get him out this year.

But Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing no one would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to protest, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would resign, even if one of his MPs contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their initial choppy year began to show results.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails 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 a long period, the idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also consistently been growing tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit protests that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to