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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, adding that if the discussion was successful, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

There is rarely ever time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are about to turn around?

Leadership Questions

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting nobody would remove his term 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 replace leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I plan to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be judged well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was understandably anxious for things to get better. He sought to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with more energy than observed from him for a while – more relaxed, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his points were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, is a different approach required a different script?

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

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

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 statements he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting evident political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but we "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics wanted him to denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been growing tension in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to overturn the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to