UK:GORDON BROWN delighted the Labour conference yesterday with a strong defence of his leadership and a demand for unity.
The prime minister issued the appeal not for his or the party's sake but "for the sake" of the country.
Casting himself as the only man qualified to lead Britain through the economic crisis, the embattled prime minister dismissed the growing ambition of Conservative leader David Cameron - and of putative Labour successor David Miliband - when he declared: "Everyone knows that I'm all in favour of apprenticeships, but let me tell you this is no time for a novice."
Taking those plotting a leadership challenge head-on, Mr Brown warned that the British people "would not forgive" Labour "if at this time we looked inwards to the affairs of just our party when our duty is to the interests of our country".
Amid continuing speculation about the "loyalty" of senior ministers and the possibility of a cabinet coup, Mr Brown repeatedly made clear he has no intention of standing aside to enable a bloodless succession.
"I know what I believe," he told conference. "I know what I want to do in this job. I know that the way to deal with tough times is to face them down. Stay true to your beliefs. Understand that all the attacks, all the polls, all the headlines, all the criticism, it's all worth it, if in doing this job I make life better for one child, one family, one community. Because this job is not about me, it's about you. And I'll tell you something else I've learned - that tough times don't weaken the determination of people who believe in what they're doing but strengthen our resolve."
The predicted "humble" premier Brown appeared with an apology for the 10p tax fiasco which saw Labour hit some five million of Britain's lowest paid workers. "Where I've made mistakes I'll put my hand up and try to put them right," he said. "So what happened with 10p stung me because it really hurt that suddenly people felt I wasn't on the side of people on middle and modest incomes, because on the side of hard-working families is the only place I've ever wanted to be. And from now on it's the only place I ever will be."
Alongside that limited mea culpa, however, conference was also treated to the Gordon Brown of limitless ambition - the "mission of the hour" to insure people against new risks while empowering them with new opportunities - with Britain poised to play a lead role in creating "the new settlement" required for these "new times" in "a global age".
Mr Brown made no reference to expert forecasts that the chancellor will have to double his planned borrowing and that taxes will have to rise, while warning of tougher choices ahead as a result of the international turmoil of recent weeks.
The tone, rather, was upbeat and confident: "If we make the right decisions to take people through the world downturn fairly, we will find that, despite the current troubles, British firms and workers can reap the rewards of a world economy that, whatever happens, is set to double in size."
With Britain's great assets - stability, openness, scientific genius, creative industries and her language - Mr Brown declared: "I know this can be a British century, and I'm determined it will be."
Inside the conference "bubble" even known critics enthused about the prime minister's performance, which began with an unexpected introduction and endorsement by his wife, Sarah.
Despite this theatrical moment conference later applauded when Mr Brown eschewed the politics of "celebrity" and explained that (presumably unlike Mr Cameron) he would not be serving-up his children for newspaper spreads. "I'm not going to try to be something I'm not," he said. "My children aren't props; they're people."
Cabinet minister Ed Miliband - brother of David - thought Mrs Brown's appearance at her own request "a very nice moment", while Mr Brown had "found his voice and spoken to the country in a compelling way" which he thought would prompt people to give Labour a second look.
Lord Barnett told The Irish Times he thought this "the best speech I've ever heard Gordon make to conference", while fellow-Scot Lord O'Neill thought the prime minister had underlined his strengths and the weaknesses of those offering themselves as the alternative.
Beyond the bubble, however, the question of who that alternative should be will continue to exercise anxious Labour MPs looking to the real world and beyond next week's Conservative conference in Birmingham, while awaiting the first post-conference season polls for any reliable evidence of an improvement in Labour's position ahead of the Glenrothes byelection in early November.
Having won time, meanwhile, Mr Brown must also decide if he has won space to reshuffle his cabinet - or whether that might make him more enemies than friends.