Nice one, Gordon.

I think Gordon Brown has made a good start to his leadership. I like the fact that he's a little dourer and less televisually appealing than Bambi, (whom I liked until he decided to stop leading and start pandering). Where politics has turned into a beauty contest, the intellectual level of the debate is usually low, the wrong people get elected and stuff starts going hideously wrong. I like that Brown is as likely to spin events as my dog. He's a plain-speaking Scotsman and I respect him for it. I like that he's inclusive and wants a cabinet full of big brains and big talents. (Pity the new Home Secretary, clever, talented Jackie Smith; a big mipper if ever there was one, whose statement about the Glasgow airport and London bombs was subject to press scrutiny...because of the depth of her cleavage - what crass tossers the press are sometimes. Would they discuss a male member's package, if you'll pardon the pun? I think not.) I like that Gordon doesn't talk about his religion. Note to future participants in the British electoral process; we're not American - we don't do that. I like the fact that he's ditched the supercasinos - what a rubbish idea that was! I like that he's serious, intelligent and he won't be the story if he can help it at all.

The reason I've put up the two photos above is because of an interest I've had for many years. When I was studying for my French degree I wrote a paper about press political bias in the French newspapers. To illustrate my point about this I included a large section on the choice of photographs of particular plitical figures. Jacques Chirac, at the time mayor of Paris, was depicted as hard, untrustworthy and borderline misshapen in the left-wing papers, and shiny, smiling and handsome in those of the right.

One of these photos comes from the Daily Mail, the other from a Northern Labour website. Any guesses?