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"I'll be positioned in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly break for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they think his standing are poised to get better?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may be reluctant to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to account for his unpopularity by saying the public was naturally eager for things to improve. He aimed to assure me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central point is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering demands from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

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

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as desired.

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

Controversies and Dangers

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

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails 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 his career, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

Some wanted him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will likely provoke protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will satisfy some on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to