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"I'll be positioned in this position by 2027," the Prime Minister remarked, noting that if our interview went well, he might welcome us into Number 10 for another talk in 2026.

For a PM, there's never truly break for those in the top job. In the hour before our chat started, the PM had been on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out precisely had occurred in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

Once our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been indicted in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

With the year commences, the Prime Minister seems to have had a kind of a refresh. Maybe even just some downtime with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This appeared to have resulted in better spirits than at the difficult conclusion of 2025, a terrible annus horribilis for him.

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

Internal Doubts

The grisly truth for the PM is that a significant number of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

However Sir Keir was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Multiple times he told me he'd be "judged at the next election", insisting nobody would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the most effective strategy of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching 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 Spring Test

The problem for the PM is that he will be assessed long before then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to argue, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – in part. But even though he may not want to admit it, No 10 will be held accountable by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir implying that there were no situation under which he would walk away, even if one of his colleagues contested his leadership for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

An Optimistic Outlook

He sought to explain his unpopularity by saying the electorate was naturally anxious for things to improve. He tried to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be different.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when strategies the government enacted during their initial turbulent year began to show results.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels before the current deadline of 2029, although he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the qualification that it wasn't a foregone conclusion, that a settlement in Ukraine felt closer now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He disclosed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a possible peace.

His big message is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Familiar Arguments

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a some time – calmer, maybe, with a longer slot to talk.

But despite facing pressure from many directions for a more decisive strategy, with increased political vision, more urgency, more speed and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in this much political difficulty, should he consider a change of tack?

No government, and especially not one that has been struggling in the polls for an extended period, has everything its as planned.

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

Regrets and Risks

The PM admitted that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when statements he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Sir Keir blamed "procedures" for failing to identify what the activist had said before – a more diplomatic way of saying not my fault.

And he is facing clear political risks as the year progresses. His close relationship with the US president entails a new complication after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over his career, the thought he would be at ease with such action seems far-fetched.

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "lifelong advocate of international law" but the public "just do not have the entire story at the moment".

Opponents demanded criticise the action prior to the interview. And the government is expected to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also consistently been simmering tension in the Labour ranks to revisit some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir rejects he's pursuing that, but his new firmer commitment to integrate further with the EU's single market – the huge economic European market – will likely trigger accusations that he is reneging on his promise never to try to overturn the decisions that followed Brexit.

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