If there were any questions over who is number two in British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s cabinet, Davos might have helped clear them up.

While Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is giving the annual gathering of global big wigs a miss, business minister Lord Peter Mandelson has found the time to go.

For years Mandelson and Brown weren’t talking, now Mandelson is once again at the heart of everything the Labour Party is plotting.

Darling has been the steady rock always at Gordon’s side during the credit crunch, often taking the flak from the media for the government’s handling of the crisis.

But when it comes to talking to the world’s most powerful decision makers and hob nobbing in an exclusive ski resort, Lord Mandy gets the call.

Is the Labour Party going to regret not hosting a Spring Party Conference this year?

Yes, it is going to save them a lot of cash, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has enough to worry about ahead of the G20 financial crisis summit in Britain in April.

But as Britain braces for a nightmare year for the economy, public support for Brown and his Labour Party is starting to slip.

Polls are indicating once again that the Conservatives are looking like red hot favourites to win the next election due by May 2010.

A weekend get together at the start of the year would have given Brown the chance to rally the Labour troops and reassure them about the tough road — and inevitable difficult election — ahead.

Instead, the party will have to wait until September for that morale-boosting pep talk.

Will it be too late for Labour by then?

They all agreed. “She was lovely.”

Sarah Brown finally stepped out from the shadow of her husband, Gordon, and appeared on the campaign trail.

While the prime minister was dashing around the world as a global economic statesman, saving the financial system, Sarah was helping save her husband’s political reputation on home soil.

She made numerous appearances in Glenrothes, Scotland, to campaign on behalf of the Labour candidate Lindsay Roy, a headmaster at Gordon’s old school, in a parliamentary constituency that backs on to his own Kirkcaldy seat.

So successful were her visits that Labour began to regard her as a “secret weapon”, boosting Gordon’s image and helping defy the bookmakers’ odds and hold onto the seat against a confident Scottish National Party (SNP).

“It was nice to see her,” said Louise Glancey, a 44-year-old staff nurse, who saw her campaigning.

“I think, generally, people are happy to see them [Sarah and Gordon]. It’s annoying to get the leaflets, but it is good to see them being enthusiastic.”

She added: “I quite admire her not being dressed in Armani — she just wore a plain black suit, quite normal.”

Christine Barbour, 61, a retired council worker, added: “She wasn’t pushy.

“She was nicer looking in real life than on TV. Tall and elegant.”

“She was down to earth,” John Johnstone, 72, a former tanker driver, said.

“The majority of the country is working class, so it’s important to be able to speak on their level. She was very easy to speak to.”

The conversation did not delve into the merits of Keynesian philosophy during an economic downturn, but rather in the style of Michelle Obama, it touched more upon the domestic.

“We talked about children,” Barbour explained.

While Sarah Brown has kept a lower profile than the wife of Barack Obama, the U.S. president-elect, they have both exuded affection and admiration for their husbands.

Sarah’s surprise appearance at this autumn’s Labour Party conference, defending her husband ahead of his crucial speech, won glowing reviews.

She may not yet stretch to gently mocking Gordon for leaving his socks lying around Downing Street, or proclaiming “Gordon gets it” in a similar vein to Michelle Obama, but she has increasingly become a factor in Gordon’s survival strategy.

Now all she needs to do is get rid of her excessive minders.

“She was surrounded by the Gestapo,” Barbour said.

“There was an entourage of about 10,” added Glancey.

Journalists and TV crews felt the full force of their menace. “I want you guys on the green,” they quoted the Labour men as saying.

“There will be six or seven guys with guns who will keep you away from her. You may be shot and then it won’t be my problem.”

Winning over the voters is half the job. Winning over the media can be more difficult — just ask Cherie Blair.

Newspapers are crediting Gordon Brown with Labour’s surprise win in the Glenrothes by-election and says it has ended any talk of a cabinet coup.

They say his gamble to break with the convention that a prime minister does not campaign in by-election polls succeeded. Brown visited the seat twice, while his wife Sarah was on the local trail at least half a dozen times.

“This was a high-risk strategy, but it paid off. Now, as a result, it looks as if Mr Brown himself won the by-election,” said the Scotsman.

“Gordon Brown’s political renaissance continues apace after an astonishing result on his home turf that was beyond Labour’s wildest dreams and neither side predicted,” said the Daily Telegraph.

“Lindsay Roy is the new MP. But Glenrothes is Gordon Brown’s triumph,” said The Times. “Two months ago it looked as if this contest could seal the end for Mr Brown. Now it has confirmed a truly remarkable comeback. Labour’s general election majority was halved but, because of the way expectations had developed, this result had all the feeling of a landslide.”

Brown’s frequent appearances on national television as he tackled the financial crisis also helped prevent a repetition of the Scottish National Party’s crushing victory in Glasgow East in July, the Times added.

For the Financial Times it was “a result that confirms Gordon Brown’s political revival and is likely to ignite speculation over a possible early general election.”

The Guardian said the victory would “put a spring in Brown’s step” and said he was now secure from a leadership challenge. “The retention of Glenrothes protects Brown still further: there is no way that future Labour activists will chant “Remember, remember the 7th of November” as they recall an attempted 2008 plot.”

But The Independent reminds readers that retaining what was after all a safe Labour seat does not mean the next general election is in the bag. “The remarkable turnaround will lift the spirits of Labour’s MPs and activists. But, as they breathe a sigh of relief, they will be under no illusion about the electoral mountain Labour still has to scale to win the next general election.”

(Photo: Labour candidate Lindsay Roy celebrates after winning the Glenrothes by-election. REUTERS/Stephen Hird)

Labour was destined for defeat at the next election and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he wasn’t going to step down.

The Labour Party conference in Manchester had been predictably subdued.

The only story in town had been who was going to have the guts to turn Judas.

And to cap it all off, there was to be a speech from a man renowned for repeating anodyne phrases like “long-term decisions” and “sustainable future” ad infinitum.

But then something changed. In walked New Brown.

New Brown somehow convinced the party faithful in the hall — at least for today — that they can win the next election under his leadership.

And then there was the “human touch” of New Brown.

We’ve all heard how awkward and dour Old Brown used to be, how out of touch with normal people he was, how unlike that charming Tony Blair…

But today New Brown skipped on to the stage, cracked funny gags and had not one, but two kisses on the lips for his wife Sarah as the lengthy standing ovation reverberated around the hall.

The audience had obviously got wind of New Brown, because they were sold long before he strolled in.

Groups of ladies disco-danced to M People and T-Rex in their chairs as the hall filled up. There were whistles and whoops when New Brown strolled in.

They all clapped along dutifully to a short film of Labour’s achievements in power as Jackie Wilson’s Higher And Higher blared out.

It was all a little bit Baptist church, a little bit Butlins — maybe even a little bit Blair.

There will be much celebration and self-congratulating in the trendy bars of Manchester as Labourites raise their glasses to New Brown tonight.

But when the hangovers ease and the Labour Party spaceship relocates to London, will the plotters really stop plotting? And will the opinion polls turn around?

The Labour faithful believes in New Brown today. Do you?

    One thing looks certain after Alistair Darling’s speech to
the Labour Party conference on Monday — he’ll be Chancellor of
the Exchequer for a while yet.

    Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to reshuffle his
ministerial team next week and there’s been a lot of speculation
that Darling could lose his job and be moved to another
department.

    The silver-haired finance minister has had a rough ride
lately. The economy is on the brink of recession and his
comments in a magazine interview saying the economic challenges
were the greatest in 60 years caused a furore and were blamed
for sinking the pound.

    But delegates at the Labour conference today just loved him.
They stood and clapped and then they clapped some more after
Darling hit out at unfettered capitalism and the huge payouts
given to bankers that he said helped cause the credit crunch.

    Darling looked genuinely embarrassed. He called for them to
stop but the delegates just went on. Besides modesty, the
finance minister had another reason for wanting them to stop.

    He had another type of conference call to attend to. A G7
one. The finance ministers and central bankers of the rich
nations club were having a hastily-arranged telephone chat at
1230 London time to discuss the latest bout of market turmoil.

    Given London’s position as one of the world’s top financial
centres, Darling could hardly miss out and he rushed off the
stage to get on with his G7 buddies.

    The crisis also looks to have cemented Darling’s position.
It would seem odd to remove the finance minister when the whole
world financial system is in the middle of the biggest upheaval
in a generation.

    With Brown making his economic experience a key selling
point, he needs Darling on side.

Britain’s foreign minister David Miliband says he does not want a leadership fight.

But his speech to the Labour party conference in Manchester on Monday was hardly rammed full of ringing endorsements for his Prime Minister either and it won’t end the whispering.

On the surface, it was supportive and brimming with the collective nouns of unity. He made an honest crack at convincing the party they can beat the Conservatives in the next election, due by May 2010, regardless of what the polls say.

And there were some drippings of praise for Gordon Brown. Well, to be precise, two examples where Brown had made a difference as Britain’s leader on the global stage — breaking a diplomatic deadlock on cluster bombs and his efforts in the fight against poverty.

But the cynics out there could be forgiven for reading that as the embryonic rustlings of a political obituary.

“You,” Miliband said to Brown as he addressed an attentive full house, “have transformed the political debate about international development in this country in the last 11 years and we should take inspiration from that as we move forward.”

Now, was that “we” the royal “we” of the heir to the throne?

As delegates rose to their feet and clapped long enough to show they like Miliband but not so long as to upset Gordon, the two men joked and shook hands.

But not everyone was convinced.

“I don’t think he’s (Brown) going to make it. But the conference is a bit frightened of giving Miliband too much of an ovation,” said Carolyn Loveday, a Party member from Morecambe. “We’re a bit like lemmings.”

Do you think Labour needs a new leader?

    It was the last thing diehard Labour activists wanted voters
to see as the spotlight falls on the party in Manchester this
weekend - two of Labour’s best known veterans bickering on
Sunday morning television over whether Prime Minister Gordon
Brown should stay or go.

In fact, most of the party’s foot soldiers would much rather
those in power got on with trying to find ways to help families
get through what could turn into a nasty recession and pull
together to give Labour a fighting chance at the next election -
which has to be called by May 2010.

The trouble is that a verbal punch up between ex-Home Secretary
Charles Clarke and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
makes for great viewing on any given Sunday.

Prescott - who thinks Brown should be allowed to get on with the
job — once famously punched a dissenting punter and is equally
unforgiving with his tongue.
Clarke has fought his way back into the political limelight with
a consistent attack on Brown’s credentials in recent months.

“It’s just a distraction,” one union official said.

It may be. It certainly isn’t doing the Labour party any good in
the eyes of voters worried about how much it costs to heat their
homes and whether they are going to be in a job come Christmas.

But it is also a reminder of perhaps why Labour may not be able
to claw its way back when that election comes round.

Labour tore itself apart in the 1980s and the Conservatives did
the same in the 1990s, could it be that history is repeating
itself again.

  Unsurprisingly, it’s a totally different mood at this year’s Labour Party conference in Manchester.Last year in Bournemouth, they talked about crushing the opposition Conservatives for a generation as the party celebrated a 10 point lead in the polls under their new leader Gordon Brown.

Many were urging Brown to make the most of it and call an early election before the economy turned down. He really must be wishing he had.

A year on, Labour is facing the prospect of a total wipeout at the next election and Brown is the most unpopular prime minister in 70 years.

“Low key” - is how the wife of one Cabinet minister described the atmosphere so far. That’s an understatement. The normally raucous conference hotel bars had scant few faces in them even at 9pm as the lobbyists and politicos who usually pack them out decided to give the first day a miss.

Delegates will have woken up Sunday morning to an Observer newspaper predicting eight Cabinet members would lose their parliamentary seats at the next election and David Cameron’s Conservatives winning a landslide victory.

Cabinet members have been putting on a united front, saying it wasn’t the right time to be thinking about changing leader but a lot of people here are wondering whether Brown can hold on.

“He’ll go by July,” one former minister predicted to Reuters.

The prime minister’s aides, however, said that was just plain rubbish. “Who do you want dealing with an economic crisis? Gordon’s got the knowledge, Gordon’s got the relationships,” said one.

They might have a point. A poll for the Independent on Sunday newspaper showed the Conservative lead over Labour halved in the last week.

It’s still 12 points though. Until that changes, the leadership question will not go away.

Gordon Brown has not had the best of luck since replacing Tony Blair as British prime minister a year ago. Now it seems Brown’s bad luck has followed him overseas.

On a trip to Iraq and Israel this weekend, he had the misfortune to have U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama following hard on his heels — and grabbing the lion’s
share of media attention.

Obama, who has pledged to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months if he wins the November election, arrived on Iraq on Monday, just two days after Brown’s whirlwind tour of Baghdad and Basra. He is due to arrive in Israel just hours after Brown’s plane took off on Monday to return to London.

Brown, known for his dour personality, could not compete in the charisma stakes with the senator from Illinois, the focus of intense interest as he makes his debut on the world stage with a tour of Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz, noting the lack of impact Brown’s visit had made in Israel, sympathised with the British leader. “Visiting Israel in the same week that Obama is expected to arrive is like being the opening act for The Beatles,” it said.

Obama fever has swept some of the countries he is due to visit as people there get a first close look at the politician who takes on Republican Senator John McCain in the race to succeed U.S. President George W. Bush in the White House.

Brown, on the other hand, has little novelty value because, while he is a relatively new prime minister, he spent a decade before that as finance minister and so is well known to many of the leaders and ministers he held talks with.

On the streets, though, Brown is not as well known as Blair, now an international Middle East envoy. “I knew Mr. Tony Blair before, but Brown — I don’t know what he’s like,” said Palestinian taxi driver Saddam Musa, 55.

The newspaper said there were other reasons for the little coverage given to Brown’s visit, saying he lacked the political clout of former British leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair.

Brown, making his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories as prime minister, was granted the honour on Monday of addressing the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, the first British leader to do so. He recalled how, as a child, he had watched film of Israel,
shot by his father, a Church of Scotland minister who learned Hebrew and regularly visited Israel.

Brown promised $60 million in new aid for the Palestinians and d said a Middle East peace deal was within reach, but his call on Israel to freeze Jewish settlement expansion was rebuffed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Brown’s message drew criticism from Israeli commentators.
“Unfortunately, he parroted conventional European Union wisdom, which assumes that the road to progress is paved only with further Israeli concessions and requires condemnation of the life-saving security barrier,” The Jerusalem Post said on its website. “Nothing could be more counterproductive.” The right-leaning newspaper was referring to the fence Israel has built on occupied Palestinian land which it says keeps suicide bombers out of its cities.

Haaretz said visiting leaders had developed a habit of comforting the Palestinians with financial aid while compensating the Israelis by recognising their right to live in
security and comfort. “Yesterday, it was the turn of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to contribute to this depressing ritual.”

It said there was not much value in Brown’s plan for an “economic road map” to boost the region’s development as long as the West Bank was dissected by innumerable roadblocks.

Back in London, Brown will brief parliament on Tuesday on Britain’s future role in Iraq and brace for Thursday’s crucial parliamentary election in Glasgow East. Defeat in the Labour stronghold, seen as unlikely, could lead to Brown being forced to step down.

After that, he will barely have time to draw breath before Obama finally catches up with him. They are due to hold talks in London on Saturday.