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"I'll be sitting in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, joking that if the interview was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for another conversation in the coming year.

There is rarely ever time off for leaders. In the hour before we sat down, the PM had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to work out exactly what had happened in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time the discussion, which was far more extended than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

But as the year starts, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a revitalisation. Perhaps even just some relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

That certainly appeared to have put him in better spirits than at the sluggish tail end of 2025, a dreadful annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his colleagues kidding themselves if they reckon his political fate are about to get better?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable reality for the leader is that many of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would rather gamble and get him out this year.

But Starmer was rejecting the idea when we spoke on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the next election", arguing nobody would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 may be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I plan to be at the forefront," he affirmed.

The Spring Test

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would walk away, should one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably eager for things to improve. He aimed to assure me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would strengthen notwithstanding rising unemployment, he claimed, when plans the government implemented during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His central argument is that this year the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

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

But despite facing calls from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

Given that he is in this much political trouble, is a different approach required a change of tack?

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not only because governing is difficult, but because he and his team have erred, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister admitted that he was sorry for saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following 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 blamed "the process" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting obvious political dangers as the year progresses. His alliance with the US president entails a new risk after Trump's strikes on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the idea he would be comfortable with these events seems implausible.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Critics demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face more pressure to give an definitive view in Parliament in the near future.

And there has always been growing tension in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete plan to move closer with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger howls that he is breaking his pledge never to try to reverse the results that followed Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is prime ammunition for Reform and the Conservatives to