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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into his official residence for another chat next year.

There is never truly downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Maybe even just some downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's ineffective at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing nobody would strip his term from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

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

True – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit 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 walk away, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to get better. He aimed to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political clarity, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing obvious political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on 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 idea he would be content with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "just lack the full picture at the moment".

Critics called for him to criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the choices that followed Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will delight many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to