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"I'll remain in the same position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if our discussion was successful, he might invite us into his official residence for a follow-up talk in the coming year.

There is rarely ever break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had transpired in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

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

But are he and his supporters kidding themselves if they reckon his political fate are about to get better?

Leadership Questions

The grisly reality for the prime minister is that many of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and get him out in 2026.

But Sir Keir was rejecting the idea in the interview on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "evaluated at the poll", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

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 about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit 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 MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

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

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a certainty, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

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

A Consistent Script

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering demands from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, should he consider a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" 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 – resurfaced.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

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

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with such action seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been growing desire in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's doing that, but his new firmer commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

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