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"I will be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if our discussion went well, he might invite the interviewer into Number 10 for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is never truly time off for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, Sir Keir had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his big ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, the Prime Minister seems to have had something of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the saggy conclusion of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are poised to improve?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the leader is that a significant number of his colleagues are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing no one would remove his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to replace its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably eager for things to change. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the administration put in place during their initial rocky year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility 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 coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

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

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive approach, with much more political direction, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, does he need a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as desired.

Sir Keir'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 admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is facing obvious political risks as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be content with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has consistently been growing pressure in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific commitment to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to