A towering figure... of 5' 11''

Gordon Brown's wife Sarah stepped centre stage at the Labour conference to introduce his keynote speech.

It almost seemed like a mother introducing her son to a group of friends in an act of pride (that could easily have been you Pippa), building him up in only the way a mother can. Or even having to defend his actions before a headmaster after being called into school - defending him to the utmost of her ability, and with no flicker of doubt

She said she was "so proud" of her husband's achievements and praised his "motivation" to help people.

I'm so proud that every day I see him motivated to work for the best interests of people all around the country. Sometimes in a world where there is so much to do we don't perhaps have enough time to celebrate what has been done.

She went on to introduce Mr Brown, "my husband, the leader of the Labour Party, your prime minister" - who made mention in his own speech about critics of his personal style, amid poor opinion poll ratings for Labour and rebel calls for a leadership challenge.

What is it with the women in his life? A towering figure indeed.

What of Gordon's turn? Garbo summed it up well with:

Well, it was a very good speech… by Brown’s standards. And it has put the doubters in the background… for now. Brown is no Blair and he is no Cameron when it comes to public speaking, but yesterday he was better than the Gordon Brown we are used to dozing through.

This was not a speech aimed at the electorate. It was not an attempt to turn the polls round over night. It was aimed directly at the party. The snipers. It was a speech that would reassert his authority and cut down any “novices” who were pretenders to his crown. And, to a certain extent at least, it has worked

N.B. I have asked Pippa Wagstaff if I can mention her son in a post. I wouldn't want her to accuse me of using him as a post prop - he's a person! She mentioned having the same pride when dropping off her son at his first day at nursery.