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"I'll be sitting in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, adding that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

There is rarely ever downtime for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they think his fortunes are poised to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining no one would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the fight of our times and I plan to lead us," he declared.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections prove very poor for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably impatient for things to get better. He aimed to assure me, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the caveat that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His central point is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have spoken with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from many directions for a bolder approach, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in this much political difficulty, should he consider a new narrative?

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

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

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when past remarks he'd previously made – including 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 fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "simply haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Some wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably provoke accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

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