Gordon Brown; Feminist

As well as banging on about how he isn't going to step down even if he fails to retain the 66 seat majority bequeathed to him by Tony "Shitbag" Blair, Brown is also keen in this interview to tout his feminist credentials. Well, that's putting it far too strongly; he's keen to dispel the image that he just can't get on with women:

Asked whether he was simply more comfortable around men than women, Mr Brown said: "No, I feel more comfortable with women, I've got to tell you. Right throughout my life I've worked very closely with the women who've worked with me.

"Some of the most senior people working with me are not only women, but extremely, extremely professional and competent women."

There is something jarring in that final sentence. It comes across as if the idea that women can be "extremely professional and competent" is almost a revelation to Gordon Brown. This is compounded by his awkward phrasing when he says that he's worked very closely with the women who've worked with him. It almost sounds like he can only work with the women who are willing to work with him.

But I think that it would be just as wrong to paint Brown as a simple misogynist as it would be to paint him as a feminist. Put simply (and to make up a word), he's just not a peopleist. Gender isn't the issue in Brown's flawed dealings with others - it's the fact that he just doesn't like working with, or even dealing with, other people. It is, and will always remain, an extraordinary flaw in a political leader.

I don't know what Brown's strengths are, but he should focus on them rather than on trying to create this false image of him as a people person. Put simply, it just isn't credible. In the grand scheme of things, he doesn't come across as someone people would get on with, and he isn't going to win any extra votes by pretending he is. You might feel, regardless of how pointless he is, that you could go for a drink with Cameron (until you realised that he wants to go to expensive wine bars). Clegg; well, you probably wouldn't know he exists, even if he spoke to you. And Brown? Well, if that glowering, angry freak was stomping towards you then you'd probably cross the street for fear that he might clomp you one in the face if you failed to give him money.

Gordon Brown isn't a feminist, but his problem has nothing to do with gender. He's just an old-fashioned misanthrope.