Gordon Brown: from the ridiculous to the sublime

What a couple of weeks it has been for Gordon Brown! Whatever one's political opinions, one has to feel some sympathy for the man. Probably the lowest point of the election campaign for Mr Brown came in the hours following his meeting with a member of the public in Rochdale: 65 year-old Gillian Duffy, a lifelong Labour supporter.

Following the public conversation with Mrs Duffy, Gordon Brown returned to his official car, not realising that his lapel microphone was still live. During his subsequent conversation with one of his aides, Mr Brown called Mrs Duffy a "bigoted woman". It was a PR disaster.

Whatever we thought of the incident, I guess that many of us were thinking about times when we have let words slip from our lips only to instantly regret them. But as we all know, once the words are out, we can never get them back. Certainly Mr Brown seems to have regretted his words, and he even had to visit Mrs Duffy personally to apologise.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Gordon Brown over the past few weeks. The weight of Prime Ministerial responsibility seemed to weigh very heavily on his shoulders; he seemed to be tired, and almost ageing before our eyes. What a contrast, however, with his demeanour once he relinquished office; it was almost as if we could literally see the weight being lifted from him (at least David Cameron has Nick Clegg to help him shoulder the burden!)

I've never really been a big Gordon Brown fan, but I was tremendously impressed by something he said in Downing Street before he made his was to see the Queen to hand in his "resignation." In saying what a privilege it had been to serve the country as Prime Minister, he made the point that being Prime Minister had been his second most important job. The first? It was, he said, that of being a husband and father. Brilliant! Let's hope that the nation gets the message (not least David Cameron and Nick Clegg).