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"I will be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister stated, joking that if the discussion went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

For a PM, there's never any downtime for prime ministers. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his standing are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The grisly truth for the PM is that numerous of his party members think he's underperforming at his job. Several of them would rather take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", insisting no one would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"We are in the battle of our generation and I plan to guide the party," he said.

The May Elections

The issue for the PM is that he will be scrutinised long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He tried to argue, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

True – in part. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to improve. He tried to convince me, and the public, that this year would be a change.

The economic situation would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the administration put in place during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big point is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

Familiar Arguments

The PM may have communicated with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing demands from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political clarity, more dynamism, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political peril, should he consider a different script?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for many months, has everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because government is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be content with such action seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is likely to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the coming days.

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

Sir Keir denies he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit accusations that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will please many on his own side, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to