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"I will remain in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister declared, noting that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another conversation in 2026.

There is never any downtime for prime ministers. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year starts, Starmer appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a little relaxation with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have put him in better spirits than at the saggy tail end of 2025, a terrible political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his standing are about to turn around?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the leader is that a significant number of his fellow MPs believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction 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 insisted he'd be "evaluated at the next election", arguing nobody would strip his electoral mandate from him – even if the most effective strategy of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

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

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to concede 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 step down, even if a his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably anxious for things to change. He sought to persuade me, and the nation, that this year would be a change.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core message is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite encountering calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political vision, more urgency, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were well-known 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 hard, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an outcry when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He stated he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics wanted him to condemn it before we spoke. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM denies he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to reverse the results that followed Brexit.

A move to cosy up to more of the single market will please many on his side of the party, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to