FIRST it was the Ralph Lauren shirts. Then the silk pink tie. Yesterday it was the 7,000-word policy speech that did not contain a single mention of tax. Gordon Brown is trying very hard to look human.
Since September, Downing Street’s finest minds, including Alastair Campbell and the pollster Philip Gould, have been planning the transition. They are holding fortnightly meetings with the Prime Minister and Chancellor to work on the details. The results have been clear. Whether it is a meet-and-greet “listening” tour to introduce him to the public, or speeches setting out the direction of a Brown Government, there can be little doubt that the transition is under way.
Perhaps the most difficult task has been to soften the dour reputation of the “Thane of Fife”. For this they have co-opted his wife, Sarah, who used to work in public relations, and Sue Nye, the Chancellor’s political secretary. Together they have been working to banish his old bachelor image. At one stage he was known as the intellectual who had time only for work and football and survived on takeaway pizza.
This was epitomised in 1997 when his romance with Sarah was made official by a staged photo opportunity in a London restaurant. A News of the World photographer was detailed to “snatch” a picture showing them dining together; it had to be reshot when Brown failed to look suitably loving.
Much has changed, with his marriage in 2000, the birth of a son, John — after the death of their first child — and another baby on the way.
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Outwardly, change has been slow, until recent weeks when his wardrobe showed signs of a spin doctor’s touch. Once visitors to the Chancellor’s residence would expect to find him in a shirt and tie, even on a Saturday night. Now guests report that he wear casual Ralph Lauren shirts when away from the Treasury. He has even jettisoned his favoured red tie, which has featured in successive Budgets since he came to power. This totem of Labour tribalism has now been replaced by a more Blairite silk pink number.
Another aspect of the transition has been the year-long “national tour”, announced at the party conference last September. Mr Brown has been criss-crossing the country, visiting Bedford at the end of January and Birmingham last week. Several visits have been to the constituencies of Blairite MPs.
The world of celebrity, Mr Brown’s friends say, has recognised the transformation. Kevin Spacey, George Clooney and Angelina Jolie are all said to be fans. But will the public think the same?
Mark Borkowski, the public relations expert, says that Brown’s team are in danger of trying too hard. “If you can see the strings being pulled then you are in trouble. The more discussion there is, the more cynical is the response.
“What I find astonishing is that his wife plied her trade in the publicity world — she should know that the art of PR is stealth.
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“Gordon Brown is gloriously old fashioned. They should be wary of feeling the need to challenge David Cameron, who is new and polished, by going for a ‘me-tooism’ strategy.”