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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into his official residence for another conversation in 2026.

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

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they reckon his fortunes are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The harsh reality for the leader is that a significant number of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would sooner gamble and remove him this year.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", arguing nobody would take his term from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 might be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he said.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM 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 too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to concede 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, should one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the public was understandably impatient for things to get better. He tried to convince the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economic situation would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a some time – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with greater political clarity, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting evident political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime proponent of international law" but the public "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new specific pledge to align more closely with the European trading bloc – the vast economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment 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