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"I will be positioned in this office by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if the conversation proceeded smoothly, he might welcome us into Downing Street for another talk in 2026.

There is rarely ever break for prime ministers. In the hour before our chat started, Starmer had been in calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and working to decipher precisely had happened in Venezuela, where his key political chum, US President Donald Trump, had just attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our lengthy talk, which was far more extended than normal, had finished, Maduro had been formally accused in New York.

A Reboot for the New Year

But as the year commences, Starmer seems to have had something of a refresh. Maybe even just a bit of relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's official country residence.

This seemed to have left him in improved morale than at the difficult tail end of 2025, a awful political year for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they think his standing are set to improve?

Internal Doubts

The uncomfortable truth for the PM is that numerous of his party members are convinced he's underperforming at his job. A faction of them would rather take a risk and remove him in 2026.

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

Repeatedly he told me he'd be "assessed at the next election", insisting no one would take his term from him – even if the best chance of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK entering No 10 could be for Labour to change its leader.

"This is the battle of our times and I aim to lead us," he said.

The Spring Test

The issue for the prime minister is that he will be assessed well ahead of then – in a huge set of elections in May throughout the UK. He attempted to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the devolved administrations in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

True – up to a point. But even though he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be judged by those elections too.

Despite this, Sir Keir stating that there were no situation under which he would resign, even if a his MPs challenged him for the job, if those elections prove disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his low poll ratings by saying the electorate was understandably eager for things to change. He sought to assure me, and the nation, that this year would be distinct.

The economy would strengthen in the face of rising unemployment, he said, when plans the administration put in place during their first turbulent year began to show results.

• He committed to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he wouldn't set a specific date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it wasn't a done deal, that a peace agreement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any time since Russia's comprehensive invasion.
• He revealed for the first occasion that Western allies were now talking about how to combine US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to guard a possible peace.

His central argument is that soon the country will "see an improvement".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have spoken with greater vigour than I've seen from him for a while – more relaxed, maybe, with more time to talk.

However, in spite of encountering pressure from many directions for a bolder strategy, with much more political direction, more dynamism, more pace and more urgency, his points were familiar ones.

Given that he is in such significant political trouble, does he need a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been struggling in the polls for many months, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's problems are not only because government is challenging, but because he and his team have made mistakes, including in the last few weeks.

Controversies and Dangers

The prime minister told me that he regretted saying he was "delighted" to see the return of the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK following an controversy when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – surfaced.

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

And he is inviting clear political perils as the year gets going. His alliance with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's military action on Venezuela.

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

International Law and Brexit

He stated he was a "career-long champion of international law" but we "simply do not have the full picture at the moment".

Critics wanted him to criticise the action before the interview. And the administration is likely to face further scrutiny to give an clear view in Parliament in the coming days.

There has also always been simmering tension in the Labour party to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

Sir Keir disputes he's heading in that direction, but his new specific pledge to integrate further with the single market – the huge economic European trading zone – will likely trigger protests that he is going back on his vow never to try to undo the results that stemmed from Brexit.

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