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"I will be sitting in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another conversation in 2026.

There is rarely ever break for those in the top job. Shortly before the interview began, Starmer had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

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

Renewed Energy for the New Year

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

That certainly seemed to have put him in a more positive mood than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his fortunes are set to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and oust him this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the struggle of our lifetime and I aim to guide the party," he said.

The Spring Test

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be scrutinised well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should a his colleagues challenged him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to get better. He sought to persuade me, and the public, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government put in place during their initial choppy year began to take effect.

• He pledged to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not put a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it wasn't a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a possible peace.

His core point is that in 2026 the country will "reach a turning point".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with more energy than observed from him for a while – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of facing calls from within his own party for a bolder strategy, with increased political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were repeated ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No administration, and especially not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its as planned.

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have faltered, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to see the return of 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 – surfaced.

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

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be at ease with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "just haven't got the entire story at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely provoke howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to reverse the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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