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"I will remain in this office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for leaders. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his fortunes are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the prime minister is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

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

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", arguing nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though 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 walk away, even if a his MPs contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the public was reasonably impatient for things to change. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting evident political perils as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has always been growing desire in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely elicit protests that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight a faction on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to