Now Gordon Brown has to live with himself

It’s not hard to see why the Prime Minister opted for a soft interview with Piers Morgan as his latest attempt to relaunch himself with the British public. Forget that he said he wasn’t the kind of politician who used his family as political props (always a daft thing for someone in public life to say). The Life Stories show is perfect format for the purposes of the celebrity-politician, designed to reveal only that which the guest carefully intends to share with the public. It is anti-journalism.  All the pre-briefing and carefully-managed reaction was designed to leave all control in the hands of the invitee. This is particularly true of the moment of supposed loss of control – “the weep”. The whole package is demeaning to everyone concerned.
The question during the faux-expectation in the run-up to the broadcast was “will it work?” – i.e will the performance turn the polls around or persuade people on the doorstep that Gordon is not a cream-faced loon.