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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," Starmer declared, noting that if our conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into his official residence for another conversation in the coming year.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. Shortly before the interview began, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his big friend, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and get him out in 2026.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing no one would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would resign, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally impatient for things to improve. He sought to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration enacted during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big message is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in this much political peril, does he need a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as planned.

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

Regrets and Risks

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

Sir Keir attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

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

Critics wanted him to criticise the action before we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

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

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit protests that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

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