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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, joking that if our discussion proceeded smoothly, he might invite us into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never any time off for those in the top job. In the hour before we sat down, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and attempting to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our interview, which was much longer than normal, had ended, Maduro had been charged in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a degree of a reboot. Perhaps even just some relaxation 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 terrible annus horribilis for him.

But are he and his allies kidding themselves if they believe his standing are about to improve?

Internal Doubts

The grisly reality for the PM is that numerous of his party members believe he's not very good at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and remove him this year.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "judged at the poll", maintaining nobody would take his electoral mandate from him – despite the fact that the best chance of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 may be for Labour to replace its leader.

"This is the fight of our generation and I aim to be at the forefront," he declared.

The Spring Test

The issue for the PM is that he will be assessed far sooner than then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to contend, perhaps excessively, that they are concerning who runs local authorities, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not about Westminster.

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

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no scenario under which he would walk away, should a his MPs ran against him for the job, should those elections prove catastrophic for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He tried to explain his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably anxious for things to change. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that the coming months would be distinct.

The economic situation would improve notwithstanding rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government put in place during their first rocky year began to show results.

• He vowed to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the qualification that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He stated for the first occasion that Western partners were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His big argument is that this year the country will "reach a turning point".

Familiar Arguments

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

But despite facing pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more urgency, more pace and more urgency, his arguments were well-known ones.

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

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

The Prime Minister's challenges are not only because governing is hard, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, including in the recent past.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister admitted that he regretted saying he was "happy" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an outcry 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 system" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is inviting evident political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication 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 notion he would be at ease with such action seems implausible.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the full picture at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

And there has long been growing 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 specific commitment to move closer with the European trading bloc – the giant economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his promise never to try to undo the results that flowed from Brexit.

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