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"I'll be positioned in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if the interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

There is never any downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was far more extended than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they believe his standing are poised to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and oust him this year.

However Sir Keir was having none of it when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I intend to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to improve. He sought to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, should he consider a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the process" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing evident political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance 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 notion he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Critics wanted him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also always been growing desire in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the choices that stemmed from Brexit.

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