The personality of Gordon Brown

As we all wait for the post-Piers Morgan polls to see if all Alastair Campbell’s hard work has paid off, Steve Richards says, “Whether we like it or not, this election will be determined by personality”:

Labour's opponents tell me their internal polling takes their breath away. Brown is not merely disliked. He is loathed. Not surprisingly, therefore, the Conservatives in particular would like to make this campaign about Brown, or their chosen stereotype of Brown.

He then marches off to have a chat with the comrades:

They discover that voters do not trust Cameron, the image of the bike with his car behind him being the one that resonates most. They add hopefully that voters are warier of George Osborne, the apparently privileged smirk and the boyish demeanour at odds with the gravity of the crisis.

Ah, the weakness of George Osborne.

Richards becomes mesmerised with ups and downs of Gordon Brown, “Take a deep breath, as it is quite a ride.”

Then he becomes transfixed by that interview and concludes:

I suspect the mood change is heightened by the interview. Brown's awkward authenticity might not be a vote-winner, but perhaps he will not be such an easy card for the airbrushed Conservative leadership either. Suddenly the contest over personalities becomes more interesting and a little less predictable.

He made the right decision to appear with Piers Morgan.

At this rate, if Brown pulls off a miracle, Richards will headline his first post-election column:

It was Piers Morgan that won it.

We all appear to be forgetting that the reason Brown had to do that interview was because of his failings as Prime Minister; his inability to communicate; his lack of charisma; and the scarceness of any form of empathy.

This is the man that employed Damian McBride; who was a so destructive under Blair; who spent much time undermining Cabinet colleagues and anyone else who challenged him, including Mandelson and Blair himself; who time and time gain pursued the wrong policies; and who had the brass neck to suggest that a roasted pig was sent to him from the Middle East.

We all need to remember this when we watch his carefully scripted and over rehearsed media performances.

Brown will not change, no matter how hard Alastair Campbell attempts to mould his superficial new image. 

Once the election kicks off and the pressure mounts, Brown will revert to type, just as night follows day.