Call me Gordon

Gordon Brown appeared to have one overwhelming goal on Wednesday on his first day in Number 10 Downing Street: to break as much as possible with the glitzy style and manner established by his predecessor, Tony Blair.

In a sign of how he wants to run Downing Street in a far more sober and downbeat style than Mr Blair, the new premier eschewed all the choreography and orchestration that accompanied the big moments in the Blair premiership.

Only once on Wednesday did Mr Brown do something that echoed the easy-going informality of the Blair premiership. Shortly after entering Number 10, he asked Downing Street staff to “call me Gordon.” In the clearest indication of the complete break he is seeking with the Blair years, the new prime minister stood on the steps of Downing Street and gave a speech dominated by one word: “change.”

Using it no fewer than eight times in his short speech, he said: “I’ve heard the need for change. Change in our NHS, change in our schools, change with affordable housing, change to build trust in government, change to protect and extend the British way of life.”

His determination to break with the Blair years was expressed in ways that went beyond the semantic, however. There was a string of symbolic moments which suggested this will be a much more downbeat premiership than that of his predecessor.

When Mr Brown arrived in Downing Street shortly after leaving Buckingham Palace, he met only reporters and photographers. There were no cheering Labour activists in the street, a contrast with the choreographed scenes of Labour jubilation that met Tony Blair in May 1997.

When he stood on the steps of Number 10, he was accompanied by his wife but neither of his two children. Again, this contrasted with Mr Blair, whose four children were regularly paraded at key events – including Wednesday’s emotional departure from Number 10.

Once inside Number 10, meanwhile, there was another contrast. The new prime minister’s first act was to rescind special legislation, introduced in 1997, allowing Number 10 political advisers to give orders to permanent civil servants. This power had been deeply resented by those fearing the politicisation of the civil service.

Mr Brown on Wednesday spoke to four world leaders – President George Bush, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, chancellor Angela Merkel and W. Italian premier Romano Prodi.

But in between calls, he found time to address Downing Street staff and was careful to recognise Mr Blair’s achievement. “He said he knew it had been an emotional day and that they had said goodbye to a great leader and a great family,” reported an aide.

It had, Mr Brown told the staff, been an “interesting day” for him. “It’s not every day you meet the Queen at 1.30pm, become the prime minister at 2pm, speak to the president [of the US] at 3pm, and get told by Sarah to put the kids to bed at 7pm.” Then came that one touch of Blairism of the day: “I don’t want to be called anything but Gordon. Let’s work together.”