Prime minister pleased his party but snap election will be a gamble, writes Frank Millarin Bournemouth.
Gordon Brown has become a terrible tease. In his peroration yesterday the prime minister solemnly promised the British people he would not let them down. But he wasn't for telling if he might be asking for their votes in a snap election some time over the next five or six weeks.
The teasing has become infectious in a Labour Party surprised to find its opinion poll lead restored and seemingly so reliable just three months after the transfer of power many feared, predicted - and in some cases probably hoped - would result in internecine warfare leading to general election defeat and vindication for keepers of the Blairite flame.
Former minister Keith Vaz even suggested Brown might choose to go to Buckingham Palace and seek the dissolution of parliament at precisely the moment next week when David Cameron is due to address the Conservative conference in Blackpool. The mood of confidence here is such we may take it Vaz was only slightly joking.
He was among the many queuing to pay homage after Brown's first speech to conference as Labour leader and prime minister. Former leader Neil Kinnock, speaking from knowledge and friendship of many years, enthused that this "wonderful" speech was "Gordon through and through . . . the emotion derived from the authenticity."
Others were moved to tears when Brown spoke personally of his own experience of the National Health Service as a young man battling to save his sight after an accident on the school rugby field.
"I learned that with a simple twist of fate life can change," he told them, while identifying health as a major battleground issue with the Tories. "It was the skills of a surgeon, the care of wonderful nurses, the attention and yes, the love and care of the NHS staff that managed to save one of my eyes. And it is because of the NHS that I can see the words I read today.
"The experiences we live through shape the way we think of the world. Experiences like these have made me the person I am."
The person he is not, of course, is his predecessor (to whom he paid tribute on page 15 of his 18-page speech). And the speech will play to rave reviews in many quarters, not least for the contrast with Tony Blair's messianic style. We have actually seen Gordon do messianic in the past, too. But here, as health secretary Alan Johnson had it, Brown was setting out his credo, declaring himself (without reference to Margaret Thatcher) a "conviction politician", speaking directly to a British people who do not yet know him that well, showing himself "a very serious person for serious times".
A Blair leadership speech for these serious times would have had rather more to say about global terrorism and what he used to call the new threat of the 21st century.
Brown had slightly more to say about Darfur. And again, while signalling no actual policy changes, the prime minister's intent to "stand up for the British national interest" (an "independent" foreign policy?) preceded this assurance: "whether it's environmental, economic or security co-operation, we will hold fast to the partnerships with our closest ally America, our membership of the European Union, the Commonwealth and our commitment to the United Nations."
Indeed the tribute to Blair came in the context of the challenge to work for peace and security in the Middle East and celebration "that Northern Ireland is now building prosperity because it is now enjoying peace".
In reference to the war that so defines Blair's legacy, Brown said: "because we will do our duty and discharge our obligations, we will work in Iraq and Afghanistan for three objectives: security, political reconciliation and economic reconstruction, and at all times we will do everything to ensure the security of our dedicated armed forces."
The Brown passion is more evident when he talks about the "global poverty emergency", and, at home, the need to build "the strong and fair society" in a "genuinely meritocratic Britain" of "strong communities" no longer divided by class "but united by aspiration".
This speech was high on aspiration. Yet as Brown spoke of his vision for world-class services - the life-saving power of the NHS and the liberating power of education - the thought struck that so had his speeches over the past 10 years as chancellor. In which context it is worth noting that - even as they declare their intention to again vote Labour - almost as many voters are declaring themselves dissatisfied or unhappy as are enthusiastic or reasonably well satisfied with this government's performance. Lord Kinnock is not the only one urging Brown to play it long.