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"I will be sitting in this seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, adding that if the conversation was successful, he might welcome us into his official residence for another talk next year.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and working to work out exactly what had transpired in Venezuela, where his key ally, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once the discussion, which was considerably lengthier than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the new year begins, Starmer seems to have had a degree of a refresh. Maybe even just a little downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

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

Yet, are he and his colleagues being unrealistic if they believe his standing are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The harsh truth for the leader is that numerous of his colleagues believe he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would sooner take a risk and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was dismissing such talk in the interview on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the general election", maintaining nobody would strip his five-year mandate from him – even if the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to replace leader.

"This is the fight of our lifetime and I intend to guide the party," he affirmed.

The May Elections

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged long before then – in a huge set of elections in May across the UK. He attempted to argue, maybe excessively, that they are about who runs councils, 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 held accountable by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would step down, should a his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to improve. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that the coming months would be a change.

The economic situation would recover notwithstanding rising unemployment, he argued, when plans the government put in place during their initial rocky year began to take effect.

• He committed to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He added too, with the caveat that it was not a certainty, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central message is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The PM may have spoken with greater vigour than observed from him for a while – calmer, perhaps, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering calls from various quarters for a more decisive approach, with increased political clarity, more vigour, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political trouble, should he consider a different script?

No government, and especially not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, has everything its own way.

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM expressed regret 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 outcry when past remarks 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 system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting evident political dangers as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the idea he would be at ease with these events seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "longtime champion of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Some called for him to criticise the action prior to the interview. And the administration is expected to face increased demands to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also long been bubbling desire in the Labour party to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will probably elicit howls that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the results that flowed from Brexit.

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