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"I'll be positioned in this seat by 2027," Starmer stated, noting that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Downing Street for a follow-up chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly time off for prime ministers. Shortly before we sat down, Starmer had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to decipher precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was much longer than typical, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This seemed to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his supporters being unrealistic if they think his standing are set to turn around?

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. Some of them would sooner gamble and oust him sooner rather than later.

But Sir Keir was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the optimal path of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

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

Upcoming Local Votes

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may not want to acknowledge it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was naturally impatient for things to improve. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that the coming months would be different.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when strategies the administration put in place during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His core message is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

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

However, in spite of facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with much more political direction, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, does he need a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because governing is challenging, but because he and his team have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

Sir Keir blamed "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is courting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over many years, the thought he would be comfortable with this kind of intervention seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the entire story at the moment".

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

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

The PM denies he's doing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to reverse the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to align with more of the single market will delight some on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to