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"I'll be sitting in the same seat by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, joking that if the conversation went well, he might invite us into Downing Street for another chat in the coming year.

There is never any time off for those in the top job. Shortly before our chat started, the PM had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to decipher what on earth had transpired 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 far more extended than normal, had ended, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer appears to have had a kind of a revitalisation. Maybe even just a bit of downtime with loved ones at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

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

Leadership Questions

The grisly truth for the PM is that many of his fellow MPs think he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

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

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", arguing nobody would remove his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 might be for Labour to switch leader.

"We are in the struggle of our times and I intend to lead us," he declared.

Upcoming Local Votes

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning 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 acknowledge 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 step down, should one of his colleagues ran against him for the job, if those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

Promises of Improvement

He sought to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to improve. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that this year would be different.

The economy would improve despite rising unemployment, he said, when strategies the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to bear fruit.

• He vowed to close asylum hotels before the current target date of 2029, but he wouldn't put a specific date on that.
• He said too, with the proviso that it was not a certainty, that a peace deal in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now discussing how to integrate US and European forces to ensure security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core argument is that soon the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with renewed vitality than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from many directions for a more decisive approach, with increased political direction, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his explanations were well-known ones.

When he finds himself in considerable political peril, does he need a different script?

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

The Prime Minister's problems are not just because governing is difficult, but because he and his colleagues have erred, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he regretted 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 not my fault.

And he is courting evident political risks as the year unfolds. His close relationship with the US president entails a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over his career, the notion he would be comfortable with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but we "simply do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents called for him to denounce it prior to we spoke. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an explicit view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to undo or remake some of the consequences of Brexit.

The PM disputes 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 provoke howls that he is reneging on his vow never to try to overturn the choices that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to align with more of the single market will please some on his side of the party, but it is simple material for Reform and the Conservatives to