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"I'll be sitting in this seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if our interview proceeded smoothly, he might invite the interviewer into Downing Street for a follow-up conversation in the coming year.

There is rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before the interview began, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was much longer than typical, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

But as the year commences, the Prime Minister appears to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in improved morale than at the difficult end of 2025, a awful year politically for him.

But are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they think his fortunes are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was having none of it during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he stated he'd be "evaluated at the general election", arguing nobody would take his term from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

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

The Spring Test

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 attempted to contend, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – in part. But although he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir suggesting that there were no situation under which he would resign, should one of his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was reasonably eager for things to improve. He tried to assure me, and the public, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government put in place during their first turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's major invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to integrate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to guard a potential peace.

His central point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more vigour, more pace and more immediacy, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in such significant political difficulty, does he need a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its as planned.

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

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when statements he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president acquires a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be content with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "lifelong proponent of international law" but we "simply haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has long been growing pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM denies he's pursuing that, but his new specific pledge to move closer with the single market – the giant economic European trading zone – will probably trigger protests that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the choices that followed Brexit.

A move to integrate into more of the single market will delight many on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to