Gordon Brown insists Labour will win election on substance, not style

Gordon Brown conceded today that he lost the first leaders' television debate on "style and presentation" but insisted that the country was looking for more than an X Factor-style contest, adding that he could win the election on the substance of Labour's plans. The prime minister declared the campaign wide open in an interview for BBC1's Andrew Marr Show, one of this most relaxed and confident recent appearances. "You campaign in style, but you have to govern in substance," he said. Asked about the effect of the first debate on the election, he said: "I think it's energised the campaign. Look, you know it's thrown the campaign wide open. People thought it was a closed book to start with. And, look, you know I lost on presentation, I lost on style. Maybe I lost on smiling, some people may think. "Some people may think I'm a sort of tough headteacher, I don't know. But I've learned that at the end of the debate substance will come through. You know this is not a sprint. It's a long campaign … I think the British public are pretty clear, this is not an X Factor talent show. It's about who and what policies are going to be there for the future of the country." In a memo to the Labour campaign team, Lord Mandelson thanked Nick Clegg. He wrote: "During the first 10 days, we found it hard to persuade the media to do much more than anticipate David Cameron being carried shoulder high into Downing Street … So, thanks Nick. Just by being there and being seen and heard properly for the first time, Mr Clegg has triggered a public reaction to this 'closed shop' election. As the polls since Thursday have demonstrated, this is becoming the most fluid and unpredictable election in recent memory." Asked directly about whether he would work with the Lib Dems in the event of a hung parliament, Brown said it was for the voters to decide before he would consider such a scenario, insisting that until that happened it remained a side issue. He said historians would record his approach to the Lib Dems so far as "an attempt to get them involved in what I call a progressive consensus". But he went on to attack their policies: "Why do the Liberals want to cut child tax credits? Look, it's not fair. Why do they want to cut the Child Trust Fund? Why are they restricting the winter allowance for pensioners? … I think they've made a mistake on their economic policy." Labour will this week focus its campaign on the economy, the subject of a press conference hosted by Brown, Mandelson and the chancellor, Alistair Darling, tomorrow. It is a risky strategy as several key indicators will be published this week including inflation figures on Tuesday, unemployment figures on Wednesday, public sector finance statistics on Thursday and GDP (gross domestic product) figures on Friday.