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"I'll be positioned in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up talk in 2026.

There is never any downtime for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him in 2026.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to switch leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I plan to lead us," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was reasonably eager for things to get better. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration implemented during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a new date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central message is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

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

However, in spite of encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with greater political vision, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, is a different approach required a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the process" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime champion of international law" but we "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been growing desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to