What a difference a day makes
Yesterday we saw the master showman. Today we saw his long suffering understudy.
It's lucky that Gordon Brown had decided to highlight his lack of interest in presentation since his launch was marred by the most basic of errors - the cameras couldn't get a clear view of his face.
The contrast though was about much more than style and will matter much more if Gordon brown means what he said today. He has pledged to govern in a different way. Parliament would have more power to hold both the government and erring ministers to account. The public would be given greater say over the services they use. In the new kind of politics which Brown is promising, government would be "humble enough to know its place"
Mr Brown is trying to pull off quite a trick. He is declaring that an old familiar face can lead a completely new style of government. He is arguing not just that Labour can and should change in office but that he can and will change too.
In the days to come we will get a sense of how far that is possible
I'm 
Comments
Reminds me a bit of what Sarkozy was saying (he has, after all, just been elected on a promise to reform despite having been an integral part of the previous administration). You'd know better than me whether the similarities go any deeper, though... thoughts?
I hope Gordon is being totally honest with us. I've heard something similar before, more commonly associated with investment advertisemens: "past peformance cannot be relied on as a guide to the future". I guess we have to hope that's true!
Nick dude, it was just an auto-cue....
He's not pulling off a trick. It's quite clear to anyone, he has a different view on issues to Mr Blair.
So no, we're not judging him, he's making a bid to lead the country, which he probably will, and he'll run the country. Period.
"We" the people, not you at the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, will decide using our votes.
Looks like he's making a case for weak leadership. He's apologizing for the mistakes he hasn't made yet. He's not telling what he is going to do or what he wants to do but what he will try to avoid doing. His style seems to be to talk about style rather that substance. I get bad vibes from this guy. He's the one someone said is like Stalin? I'll bet he's great at finding scapegoats when things go wrong.
Blair's legacy is Brown's responsibility
Q. why are people expecting anything different from Brown, as one of the major architects of New Labour & who has acted as one of the two major Puppter Masters for the last 10 years+?
Blair did the visionary spin, Brown was supposed to do the detail & deliver - but repeatedly has not :(
Can Brown, the dour straight man of a perverse double act, go it alone?
... Corbett, Wise, Brown
vikingar
Will be fascinating to see how well the tories and the cameron effect hold up now the labour party and incoming prime minister can control some of the news cycle and big political events for the next few weeks.
I think GB is gradually working out who to play to his strengths and the charge that cameron is 'cocky and smug' is gonna stick with him for a while - it has that strong ring of truth
Even now Brown is telling a few porkies. He says he will listen.
He did not listen when Public Opinion
was against the Iraq War. He didnt listen that old people were still in same sex wards he didnt listen over a lot of matters despite his so called influence. We have had this listen and learn stuff for years with conversations with the public. Its all spin. Brown is a control freak does anyone really think he can change his spots NOW ?
Hardly likely..been here done that.
Any new Chancellor will have his hands tied by Brown. No at the next election he will be swept away.
I paraphrase..Gordon..there is nothing you can that I will ever believe again.
Politics, as Bismarck, reminds us, is the art of the possible.
Gordon Brown is going to have to face the outcome of policies he himself engineered. He cannot blame the Bank of England, the previous Conservative governments or even Tony Blair. He will have to take stock and assume direct responsibility. Never mind the niceties of presentation. What we need is clarity and honesty without the jargon of 'end of the economic cycle' and all the bla bla bla of Parliamentary speeches. Next year, we will have another round of elections and I do not know if the Labour government could stand another backlash like the one they suffered this year. If the meltdown process of public services continues and if we have another series of interest rate rises, the situation could become untenable.
Nick,
GB may not have the command of the media moment that is the trademark of Tony, the lord, Blair - but he does have one thing in his favour. In an election he would be facing not much in the way of competition. We might all want a change from Labour but all we can realistically expect is a change of parties rather than a change of direction.
Assuming that nothing goes drastically wrong in the next few years then I suspect all we will see at the next election is fewer voters.
Lets face it, this government has proved itself to be less than competent over a period of 10 years and still retains the support of a third of the electorate.
To get a change of government would take either a blunder on a greater scale than anything that has gone before or the announcement of some stunning well thought out policies by the opposition. A greater blunder seems unlikely, and the opposition having a policy would be a major accomplishment. I think GB must have realised this and therefore sees no need to court the media.
'Master Showman' is absolutely right. Even to a specially imported audience to surround his Trimdon grandstanding. Take a very good look at those 'wellwishers' surrounding Blair. Most of them had never even been to the town before.
As for Brown. Yep, he's got a long way to go. Does RADA do a distance learning course?
Does he really think that the electorate will swallow this? He's as much responsible for the mess New Labour have made as Tony Bliar has been. When has he ever publically criticised anything done by this government? Yes, we get lots of "off record" comments attributed to "friends" or "spokesmen". I don't think he'll be around very long to enjoy his new position.
I am at a loss to understand the extent to which Mr Brown believes the British electorate to be gullable. How can we accept this so-called change of focus, direction and personality from a man who has been at the heart of the Government for the last ten years? Indeed, it is possible to argue that, in effect, Gordon Brown has been the Prime Minister for domestic affairs since 1997. All policies relating to education, health and transport travelled via the Treasury. All three manifestos were firmly routed through GB's hands, as were the campaigns themselves (eventually in the case of 2005). And now we are being asked to accept that it is all to change and that what went before was wrong to a greater or lesser extent. Either Gordon Brown has been Chancellor and de facto domestic PM for the last 10 years, with immense influence over all areas of government policy (except foreign affairs) or we have all been mislead since 1997. If GB had been some junior ranking cabinet minister and only relatively recently promoted that far (the name Miliband keeps springing to mind for some reason!) then this approach would be a powerful one indeed and one diffciult to resist. To some extent that was part of the Cameron appeal. He appeared genuinely new. Mr Brown is not and he is fully accountable for the actions of the government he has co-chaired for the last ten years. I trust that Nick Robinson and all journalists will continue to probe this point rather than play GB's game and talking about his plans for the future as if he has no accountability for the past. He does and must be made to answer for it and not be allowed to pretend that it is not same old same old!
Gordon Brown has a credibility problem. His means-testing of pensioners has undermined him irredeemably.
Would YOU trust a man who in effect told pensioners to take a begging bowl to a government department?
Alternatively, of course, the government department was able to send people to a pensioner's home, demanding to see bank books so that forms could be completed on the spot.
The man has a lot to live down..too much to live down..too many mistakes over too long a period of time!
Gordon Brown to make Britain a republic! He says under his leadership there will be no limit to peoples potential. My son would like to become "Head of state" he has better A level results than the current job applicants and is expected to get a good degree in genetics. The only way for him to achieve his potential whould be to scrap the monarchy.
But does he have the right "genetics"
Brown has a job of work to do to convince the public he can deliver on these promises, as he is seen as an architect behind both the good and bad of New Labour. It will be all too easy for some to see him as more of the same or unpicking some of the best of Blair's legacy - depending on your point of view. The media and underlying public opinion seem ready to believe the worst of Brown. To challenge that will require shaking people out of their preconceptions. Does he have the energy, the charm or the leadership to do that? Time will tell.
In the meantime, with NHS staff set against Labour and a re-energised Tory party, things are not looking good for Gordon in 2009.
Actually Nick I would suggest that the camerman/director should take the blame for that. Why didn't they spot this when they set up? Surely you are not suggesting that ministers of state should control the media?
Here's a thought: the presentation problems at Brown's press conference were actually deliberate and an ingenious way of demonstrating how different a PM he intends to be from PR-savvy Blair??? Sort of anti-spin spin.
Just an idea...
The man cant help spinning. He's just as bad a Tony Bliar. Take the last budget as an example, spin and more spin at the same time saying he wouldnt spin anymore!
Can trust a word what this man says. Kick him and the rest of his cronies out at the next election please! p.s. I voted labour in 1997 and 2001.
I happened upon a blog entry from someone who was there in the audience, it makes fascinating reading in this apparent post-spin era, take a look
Is it not a bit odd that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is trying to make all of this Brown campaign seem that he is under threat from somewhere or someone,and he may not become PM.It is blatently obvious that he will be PM,so why bother with following him around.
In his position,would you not say "I am different to Blair and his policies etc".He has to change completly to be different but I see no sign of this.His fundimental belief is that Government knows best and he will be the controlling head of that government.So for 6 weeks are we are going to be fed a non-story of the Brown campaign.PLEASE say NO.PLEASE.
Does anyone else share my utter depression at this whole leadership election? This country needs a dynamic shift in its domestic policy, I feel a complete lethargy in the nation as a whole - such a lack of optimism and hope. Seems we plough along paying hand over fist to the taxman in the vain hope that there will be a tangible improvement to our quality of life: better health, better education. We seem to hear political assertions that a better life is around the corner but it never comes. I'm not really a one party man, I drift across the three main parties and I see no present visionaries or doers and even worse no future ones either. I had hoped that Milliband might pull through but he seems to have no stomach for higher political life just yet, which makes me pessimistic about his ability to be a heavy hitter in the future. I remember a time when politics was at least a bit exciting and dramatic, now it's becoming draining and I'm fed up! I wish modern politics would move away from it's present economic obsession and live life on the edge a bit. But I guess that's the inner anarchist. So in summary I guess it's more of the same.
By Miserable of Manchester!
So Brown says he will listen...
Well I think he might listen but will he hear?
Classic example was when you pointed out to him, Nick, at the start of your question, that he could not be seen because of the autocue.
His reply "It's OK I can see you".
We have seen this before - but maybe this time it is more extreme. Mr Blair resigns and the obvious front runner for his replacement goes on the PR offensive. Thus stealing the headlines and effectively crushing the competition in his own party.
' I welcome a contest.'
Yes indeed, Mr Brown. I am very sure you do !