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"I'll be positioned in the same office by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if our discussion was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for a follow-up chat in the coming year.

There is never truly break for leaders. In the hour before our chat started, Sir Keir had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had ended, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

With the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

This 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 allies kidding themselves if they reckon his standing are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would rather take a risk and oust him this year.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", arguing nobody would strip his term from him – even if the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the battle of our generation and I plan to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He sought to argue, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, even if a his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his unpopularity by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to get better. He tried to persuade me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government enacted during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now considering how to combine US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

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

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing calls from many directions for a bolder approach, with much more political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were familiar ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, does he need a change of tack?

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, has everything its as desired.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because governing is hard, but because he and his team have erred, including in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – resurfaced.

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

And he is courting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails 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 many years, the idea he would be at ease with such action seems unlikely.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He asserted he was a "lifelong champion of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face further scrutiny to give an definitive view in Parliament in the next few days.

And there has long been bubbling tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's doing that, but his new specific commitment to move closer with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will probably provoke accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to undo the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to