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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, noting that if our interview went well, he might invite the interviewer into his official residence for another conversation in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any break for prime ministers. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his political fate are about to turn around?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the prime minister is that many of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him in 2026.

But Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", insisting no one would strip his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

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

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was understandably eager for things to change. He sought to convince the interviewer, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government implemented during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, does he need a new narrative?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting obvious political risks as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been simmering desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

The PM disputes he's doing that, but his new firmer pledge to align more closely with the EU's single market – the vast economic European market – will probably provoke howls that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will delight some on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to