Britain's PM determined to stay on

June 21, 2009 04:32:33 PM

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Gordon Brown stressed his determination to stay on as Britain's prime minister and lead the governing Labour Party into the next general election, in an interview published Sunday.

Despite plummeting ratings and attacks on his leadership from disgruntled Cabinet members, Brown predicted he would defy the opinion polls and steer Labour to victory in the vote, due within 12 months.

"It is because of my purpose in politics that I am determined to lead Labour to the next general election. We must and we will win," he told the News of the World, Britain's biggest-selling newspaper.

His own de facto deputy, Lord Peter Mandelson, has predicted that the sniping over Brown's leadership may resurface at the party's annual conference, which starts on September 27.

With the parliamentary expenses scandal still raging, Brown warned lawmakers that they would better spend their forthcoming 13-week break engaging with their electorate to rebuild trust.

"It has never been the trapping of power I care about but what we can do in power to help hard-pressed families," he said.

He added: "When people talk about the summer I think MPs will be wanting to be in their constituencies for a lot of time, talking to people."

Brown admitted he would only be able to restore public faith in his government if he "moves quickly" and by "doing the right thing".

Brown's authority has been shaken by the resignation of several ministers -- some accompanied with sharp personal attacks -- the lawmakers' expenses scandal and a heavy drubbing for Labour in European Parliament and English local elections earlier this month.

The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said it understood that Brown was now trying to project a more human image in a bid to "reconnect" with voters.

He gave an unusually personal interview to The Guardian newspaper, published Saturday, in which he admitted he had been "hurt" by criticism aimed at him and said he could easily "walk away from all of this tomorrow".

"I'm not interested in what accompanies being in power. It wouldn't worry me if I never returned to any of those places -- Downing Street, Chequers. That would not worry me at all. And it would probably be good for my children."

He added: "Look, find weaknesses in me, criticise me for my weaknesses -- I'm not as great a presenter of information or communicator as I would like to be.

Brown also added that he might be drawn towards teaching -- a "great profession" -- as a post-Downing Street career and portrayed himself as uneasy with the machinations of politics.

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