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"I will remain in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if the interview was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for a follow-up conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever time off for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the sluggish end of 2025, a terrible year politically for him.

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

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and remove him in 2026.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he insisted he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing nobody would strip his term from him – even if the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 might be for Labour to switch its leader.

"This is the struggle of our times and I aim to lead us," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

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

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his unpopularity by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to change. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government enacted during their first choppy year began to show results.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His big argument is that in 2026 the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more vigour, more speed and more urgency, his points were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, should he consider a new narrative?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM told me that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer blamed "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just haven't got the complete details at the moment".

Opponents called for him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been simmering desire in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will delight many on his backbenches, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to