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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer stated, noting that if our discussion was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly break for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, Sir Keir had been on the phone with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand precisely had transpired in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently targeted and seized its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was considerably lengthier than typical, had finished, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Refresh for the New Year

As the year commences, Sir Keir seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his allies being unrealistic if they reckon his standing are about to get better?

Party Concerns

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

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "judged at the general election", insisting nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – even if the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to change its leader.

"We are in the battle of our times and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The May Elections

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a mega set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to contend, perhaps too much, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

True – to some extent. But even though he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would step down, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, if those elections be very poor for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally eager for things to change. He aimed to assure the interviewer, and the nation, that this year would be different.

The economy would recover in the face of rising unemployment, he claimed, when policies the government implemented during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, but he wouldn't set a firm date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it wasn't a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His core argument is that this year the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

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

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a more decisive approach, with greater political direction, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were repeated ones.

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

No administration, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, gets everything its as desired.

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister 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 following an outcry when comments he'd made in the past – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting evident political perils as the year gets going. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy 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 his career, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "just haven't got the full picture at the moment".

Some wanted him to denounce it before the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir denies he's doing that, but his new firmer plan to integrate further with the single market – the vast economic European market – will probably trigger accusations that he is going back on his pledge never to try to reverse the results that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will please a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to