Britain's PM lambasted at home
2009-09-28 12:33
London - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has won praise and prizes abroad for his handling of the global financial crisis - but at home his popularity is so low that he faces eviction from office next year.
As he picked up the world statesman of the year award from the Appeal of Conscience Foundation in New York last week, Brown must have enjoyed the relief of a much-needed respite from his domestic woes.
Presenting the prize from the interfaith organisation which campaigns for human rights and religious freedom, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger hailed Brown's "vision and dedication".
Yet in Britain, with a general election looming by next June, just 28% of voters are satisfied with his personal performance, according to a MORI poll in August.
Britain was one of the first major economies to make a massive injection of capital to prop up its banking system last year, and other countries launched similar packages in the frantic weeks that followed.
But it says much about Brown's low standing among his own voters that what many people recall about the huge stimulus package is a slip of the tongue when he told parliament "we not only saved the world, er, saved the banks".
The night and day contrast with his image at home and abroad will be highlighted on Tuesday when he addresses the annual conference of his Labour Party after striding the world stage at the G20 summit.
'The credit crunch has been unreservedly bad for Brown'
Brown faces an uncertain reception as he tries to galvanise the party in Brighton, on England's south coast, at its last conference before the country goes to the polls for an election expected to take place in May.
Labour is trailing behind the main opposition Conservatives by about 17 points in opinion polls.
In Britain, "the credit crunch has been unreservedly bad for Brown", said Professor Patrick Dunleavy, a politics specialist at the London School of Economics.
"Voters have not forgiven him for the onset of the recession and they have not credited him with the upswing in economic fortunes."
At last year's Labour conference in Manchester, Brown was the subject of so many rumours of a bid to unseat him that his wife Sarah was sent out to introduce her husband's speech and add a little sparkle.
Over the past 12 months, the former public relations executive has taken an increasingly prominent role at her husband's side - to such an extent that she has more than 750 000 followers on social networking site Twitter.
He will not need Sarah to ward off challenges for his job this year - they have faded, perhaps because the role is seen as a poisoned chalice.
A personal failure
But that does not mean the sniping from his opponents has been silenced.
His long-time critic, former interior minister Charles Clarke, called last week for Brown to resign, and claimed his health was failing, forcing the 58-year-old prime minister to deny that he is slowly going blind.
He lost the sight in his left eye as a child, but when asked in a US TV interview if his other eye was also failing, Brown said it "was not at all deteriorating".
Brown would view defeat in the general election as a personal failure, having waited years to take over the prime minister's job from his long-time rival and colleague Tony Blair.
For years, it was Brown who was seen as Labour's great hope but he and Blair reportedly struck a deal in 1994 after the death of then leader John Smith in which Brown agreed temporarily to step aside for a Blair premiership.
When Labour swept to victory in 1997, Blair made Brown his chancellor of the exchequer and he became Britain's longest-serving finance minister in modern times.
But tensions with Blair rose sharply as he showed no sign of stepping down, coming to a head in 2006, when supporters of Brown launched a coup against Blair, prompting the premier to announce a date for his departure.
Brown eventually took over in 2007.