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"I will be positioned in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if the discussion went well, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another chat in the coming year.

There is never truly break for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful political year for him.

Yet, are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they believe his standing are set to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs think he's ineffective at his job. Several of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "judged at the next election", maintaining nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I aim to lead us," he affirmed.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to change. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the nation, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite facing pressure from various quarters for a bolder approach, with increased political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, should he consider a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its own way.

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

Controversies and Dangers

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

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

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- 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 unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action before we spoke. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has consistently been bubbling desire in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the outcomes of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will likely trigger howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to integrate into more of the single market will delight a faction on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to