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"I will be positioned in the same office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, adding that if our conversation was successful, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk next year.

There is never truly downtime for leaders. Shortly before we sat down, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to understand what on earth had happened in Venezuela, where his big political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our lengthy talk, 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 appears to have had a kind of a reboot. Perhaps even just a bit of a rest with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

Yet, are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his fortunes are set to get better?

Party Concerns

The harsh reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues are convinced he's not very good at his job. Several of them would sooner take a risk and get him out in 2026.

However Sir Keir was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing nobody would take his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of preventing Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace leader.

"We are in the fight of our lifetime and I aim to lead us," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the PM is that he will be judged far sooner than then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to contend, maybe too much, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and unrelated to Westminster.

Accurate – to some extent. But although he may be reluctant to admit it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir suggesting that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his colleagues challenged him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to explain his low poll ratings by saying the voters was naturally anxious for things to change. He aimed to persuade me, and the nation, that 2026 would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve despite rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their first choppy year began to bear fruit.

• He committed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, although he wouldn't put a new date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any point since Russia's major invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western partners were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His central message is that in 2026 the country will "turn the corner".

A Consistent Script

The PM may have communicated with renewed vitality than observed from him for a some time – less tense, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of facing demands from various quarters for a more decisive strategy, with much more political clarity, more vigour, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

Given that he is in considerable political trouble, should he consider a different script?

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

Sir Keir's problems are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his team have made mistakes, even in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "pleased" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an controversy when comments he'd previously made – including calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir attributed it to "procedures" for not catching what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is inviting clear political risks as the year unfolds. His alliance with the US president acquires a new risk after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the thought he would be at ease with this kind of intervention seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "simply do not have the complete details at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to we spoke. And the government is likely to face more pressure to give an explicit view in Parliament in the near future.

There has also long been simmering pressure in the Labour party to undo or remake some of the outcomes of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's pursuing that, but his new more concrete pledge to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European market – will probably trigger howls that he is reneging on his pledge never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to integrate into more of the single market will satisfy many on his backbenches, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to