What New Labour told us about Brown

Given the fact that Gordon Brown is on his way out after one disastrous year in power, I thought it would be harsh and cruel of me - but possibly mildly amusing -to compile a list of admiring quotes from one time admirers and sycophants, assuring us of how great Brown would be as Prime Minister. You know the kind of thing 'Brown is an intellectual colossus, a master-strategist, a political titan who will revolutionise Britain', that sort of thing. This is obviously quite a pointless activity, and so I am not going to spend a lot of time on this myself, but feel free to send in quotes...

"To the extent that one can see into the future on the basis of Gordon's record as chancellor, I do not see any reason to believe that he will not be a very effective communicator as a prime minister. His record as chancellor is second to none. It is the best record by a million miles that any Labour chancellor has ever had. It stands pretty good comparison with the chancellor of any political party for 200 years, and that cannot be achieved without an ability to communicate."
Charles Clarke, 2003.

'[Brown is] supremely well-qualified to build on the huge achievements of Tony Blair's premiership, to keep the Labour Party united, to give us a strategic vision to take on and defeat the Tories at the next election and, above all, to show the strength of leadership our nation demands. It will be a personal pleasure for me to help ensure that Gordon Brown becomes our next prime minister and continues the positive transformation of the country which Labour has secured since 1997.'
Jack Straw, 2007.

'[Brown is] the right man for 2007, 2008 and 2009. And I think the judgement I made, which is that he's got the values and the determination and the experience to make a difference to the country, is absolutely right and nothing has happened to make me change my mind.'
David Miliband, 2007.