Brown battles to quell "dark and dithering" image

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown is often portrayed in political cartoons as a dark and brooding figure unable to connect with the world.
The 57-year-old son of a Scottish minister has struggled to dispel the unflattering image despite his best efforts to smile and show warmth.
Now, 15 months after he succeeded Tony Blair, commentators say Brown's dour personality is a serious impediment to his efforts to revive his political fortunes at the Labour Party's annual decision-making conference starting on Saturday.
Brown's opinion poll ratings are the worst for a prime minister in 70 years, Britain faces the risk of recession and some junior members of his party want to oust him.
"He has an unusual personality type which is the mirror image of Blair," said Anthony Seldon, a political commentator and biographer of Blair who praises Brown's intellect even if he has an awkward manner.
"Blair was extrovert, optimistic, outgoing," he told Reuters. "Brown is introverted and brooding. Premiership is perhaps better suited to people with lighter, more agile brains who can range more quickly."
For a decade during Blair's time in power, Brown served as chancellor, winning a reputation as a firm hand while presiding over a period of unprecedented economic growth.
He initially rode high in opinion polls after he took over as prime minister without a leadership race. His studious image was widely seen as an attribute after polls showed voters had come to mistrust Blair's much slicker public performances.
Attitudes soon changed. Brown's ability to govern came into question when the global credit crisis began a year ago, and public confidence sank further when he opted not to call an early parliamentary election because his poll ratings were down.
Commentators branded him indecisive and a "ditherer" for failing to take a quick decision on whether to call an election, and he has failed to shake off that label as economic problems have worsened and Britain flirts with recession.

"UNDERTAKER"
"He doesn't have the charisma of Blair or the quick charm that appears to be expected of a politician in these times," said Wyn Grant, a professor of politics at Warwick University.
"Brown has the rather grim, foreboding manner of a Presbyterian minister telling you where you've gone wrong.
"To compare his manner to that of an undertaker might be said to be a bit harsh on undertakers."
Brown lost an eye in a sports accident as a child and can appear uncomfortable when meeting people face-to-face.
He is widely portrayed as focusing on specific issues and concentrating too much on details, rather than the big picture.
"The job of modern leadership requires you to switch quickly from subject to subject and that is Brown's particular difficulty," said Seldon, mentioning Blair and former U.S. President Bill Clinton as men with agile minds.
"Brown is a much subtler thinker than Blair -- he has a prodigious brain which is very deep. But that personality type often finds it difficult to operate at the top level."
If he is going to win over his doubters and show the public he has what it takes to lead, Brown has little time to do it.
Opinion polls show his party is lagging 20 points behind the opposition Conservatives and calls to quit by members of his own party are growing.
His ability to lead Labour into the next election, due in mid-2010, could depend on his performance at the party conference, when he will make a U.S.-convention-style speech.
"At times like these, it's a question of how much you want gravitas and how much you want reassurance," said Grant. "Brown doesn't provide much reassurance."


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