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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," Starmer stated, joking that if the discussion was successful, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, Starmer appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have put him in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his fortunes are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the leader is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him this year.

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

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", maintaining nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

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

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 across the UK. He sought to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He tried to persuade me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government enacted during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central argument is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, gets everything its own way.

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

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

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not realising 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 risk 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 notion he would be content with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Some demanded condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been simmering pressure in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new firmer plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit howls that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to