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"I will be sitting in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, joking that if the interview went well, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up chat next year.

There is rarely ever break for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just some downtime with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

Yet, are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his standing are about to get better?

Party Concerns

The harsh truth for the prime minister is that many of his fellow MPs believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was having none of it in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our lifetime and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was naturally anxious for things to change. He tried to persuade the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the administration put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering demands from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, does he need a new narrative?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" 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 – surfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

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

Critics wanted him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been bubbling desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to align more closely with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger protests that he is breaking his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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