With Love from Gordon...

Valentine's night and the (um) perfect programme on ITV - get to know Gordon Brown's private world...via Piers Morgan's Life Stories (I was going to say intimately but it didn't quite go that far). Few recent programmes have attracted such pre-airing hype, so how did he do?

I can't honestly say that the programme really changed my opinion of our (un-elected) PM. He has always seemed like a decent man to me, very much 'what you see is what you get' as some of his attempts (YouTube-style) at being a smiley superstar show - merely causing cringing rather than cooing. I remain convinced that he is an extremely bright - probably kind - and decent man, more conducive to the role of friendship than leadership.

When asked about his romantic, beach-set, marriage proposal to love of his life, Sarah, one could tell that he was genuinely bashful and bashfully genuine. Exploring his feelings about the tragically short-lived existence of his first-born, Jennifer, wasn't easy to witness (nor to see Sarah in the audience, suffering along with him). It was heart-warming though to watch him revel in the joy he gains from his young sons, in spite of the fact that Fraser was born with cystic fibrosis.

I still can't quite get to grips with the fact that, despite his (ahem) magnificent prowess as former Chancellor of the Exchequer, he didn't see a hint of the protracted, far-reaching economic disasters looming. I'm still paying for my adherence to his recommendations of prudence...

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons