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"I will remain in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer declared, noting that if our discussion went well, he might invite us into Number 10 for another chat in 2026.

For a PM, there's rarely ever downtime for those in the top job. Just an hour before our chat started, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to understand exactly what had occurred in Venezuela, where his close ally, US President Donald Trump, had just launched a strike against and detained its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

When our interview, which was much longer than normal, had concluded, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

As the new year begins, Starmer appears to have had something of a refresh. Perhaps even just a little a rest with his family at Chequers, the prime minister's rural getaway.

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

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they reckon his political fate are set to improve?

Party Concerns

The uncomfortable reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues believe he's ineffective at his job. A faction of them would sooner gamble and remove him sooner rather than later.

But Starmer was dismissing such talk during our conversation on Saturday morning.

On several occasions he told me he'd be "assessed at the poll", maintaining no one would remove his five-year mandate from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of halting Nigel Farage and Reform UK getting to No 10 could be for Labour to switch its leader.

"We are in the battle of our lifetime and I intend to be at the forefront," he said.

Upcoming Local Votes

The challenge for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a mega set of elections in May throughout the UK. He sought to protest, perhaps excessively, that they are about who runs local authorities, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may not want to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir implying that there were no circumstances under which he would walk away, should a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections be catastrophic for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He attempted to account for his low poll ratings by saying the public was understandably anxious for things to get better. He aimed to convince me, and the nation, that 2026 would be a change.

The economy would strengthen despite rising unemployment, he said, when plans the government enacted during their initial rocky year began to bear fruit.

• He pledged to shut asylum hotels ahead of the current target date of 2029, but he did not set a firm date on that.
• He noted too, with the proviso that it was not a foregone conclusion, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt more likely now than at any time since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He disclosed for the first time that Western allies were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to offer security for Ukraine – to safeguard a potential peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The PM may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – calmer, maybe, with more time to talk.

But despite facing calls from various quarters for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more immediacy, his explanations were familiar ones.

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

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

Sir Keir's challenges are not just because government is difficult, but because he and his team have faltered, including in the recent past.

Controversies and Dangers

The PM expressed regret 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 past remarks he'd previously made – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

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

And he is inviting obvious political perils as the year unfolds. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

Based on years of interviewing Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who opposed the war in Iraq, over many years, the notion he would be comfortable with these events seems far-fetched.

Policy Stances and Pressures

He told me he was a "career-long proponent of international law" but the public "just lack the entire story at the moment".

Critics demanded denounce it before we spoke. And the government is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the near future.

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

The PM disputes he's pursuing that, but his new specific plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger accusations that he is going back on his vow never to try to overturn the decisions that stemmed from Brexit.

A decision to align with more of the single market will delight some on his own side, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to