New Labour, new era

Gordon Brown hailed the start of a new political era as he was crowned leader of the Labour Party at a special conference in Manchester. In his victory speech, Mr Brown declared that Labour would be the party of change, and hinted at sweeping reforms in key policy areas.

Suddenly, he is free to range more widely without fearing that his words are interpreted as a bid for the leadership or an attack on Tony Blair. He is the leader now. Yesterday, Mr Blair watched the speech in the audience as the former leader. After years of agonising, plotting, frustration,explosive anger and at times displays of nail-biting patience Mr Brown has pulled it off. There has been a relatively smooth transition from one leader to the next.

As if to prove Labour is moving on, Harriet Harman was the surprise winner of the deputy leadership contest, narrowly beating the Education Secretary, Alan Johnson. She had stressed the importance of a woman being part of the leadership team. After her victory, she declared: "With a man and a woman elected leader and deputy it is Labour that leads the way." Suddenly Labour felt different.

In Mr Brown's speech, he highlighted repeatedly the need for change. There would be changes to meet the new challenges. Changes to deal with insecurity. Changes to meet new needs and, in case there were any doubts, change from the old politics. This was the first attempt to introduce New New Labour. Mr Brown's internal opponents and the Conservative leadership attempt to portray him as a figure that would lead Labour back to its vote-losing past. The aim of the speech was to challenge the misleading caricature.

Mr Brown is following Bill Clinton's advice to him with a persistent emphasis: Labour will win again if it is seen as the agent of change. The oddly inappropriate music, an old one-hit wonder, that greeted Brown's appearance on the stage should have been replaced by David Bowie's "Changes". The need for change was his overwhelming theme, in tone and policy-making.

On housing, he pledged that local authorities as well as the private sector and housing associations would build homes. The Housing minister would attend cabinet, although the brief will probably not be elevated to cabinet status. Mr Brown repeated his determination to raise public investment on state education to the level spent on pupils who attend private schools, a potentially revolutionary development. He promised a "new settlement" for a modern NHS. Expect significant announcements in the next few weeks on a policy area that he described as his "immediate priority".

More specifically he promised a bigger department for international development, with greater co-ordination of debt, aid and trade policies, signalling a much wider shake up in Whitehall including dismantling the Department of Trade and Industry.

One challenge Mr Brown faced was to address the seemingly impossible question: how to represent continuity with the Blair era and, at the same time, emphasise change? He answered it with an illuminating phrase: "We will build on what has gone right", a seemingly innocent construction but one that gives him the space to change Blairite reforms that obviously have not gone right.

In terms of style, Brown gave more details of his determination to be an inclusive leader, breaking with the immediate past and challenging his own reputation as the control freak in the Treasury. One of his allies tells me that if he makes the reforms he has been talking about in private it will "take the breath away". For now, there were only hints of what is to come. He promised "a new constitutional settlement". Government would give powers to parliament. There would be more powers for councils. Voters would be more directly engaged with decisions that impact on their lives.

Mr Brown is still to decide the final details of his government. Even his closest allies are not yet certain of their precise roles. But in spite of his failure to persuade Paddy Ashdown to join the cabinet I am told surprising outsiders will join the government this Thursday.

The new leader plans also to make changes to the Labour Party. Ms Harman becomes the elected chair. Members will be consulted on the next pre-election programme, an echo of the approach to policy-making before 1997. He announced that his close ally, Douglas Alexander, would be the election co-ordinator, mischievously placing other parties on election alert.

The themes of trust and renewal were familiar. The tone was different, more personal and less hectoring. Yesterday he spoke of losing sight in his eye when playing rugby at 16. He said that from early on he was taught everyone must have a fair chance, that "if the strong helps the weak we are all stronger", the populist essence of Brown's philosophy. He finished this sequence with a heart-felt climactic: "We must have more than a set of policies. We must have a soul."

Reinforcing the determined inclusiveness and moral humility, Brown spoke softly and more slowly. Once he was an old-time orator, proclaiming the triumph of Labour. Now he is the humble leader, not even stopping very long on the stage to greet his ovation but choosing to step down and engage with his audience as he left the hall: changes.

Ms Harman's victory was welcomed by most of Mr Brown's closest allies. He noted in his speech that as a woman from the South-east she was well-placed to articulate and meet the challenges facing families.

As for the other deputy leadership candidates, Mr Brown will almost certainly give Mr Johnson a big job. He is the best communicator in the cabinet. Jon Cruddas came third in spite of being the only non- minister and he had alerted Mr Brown to the urgency of the housing crisis. He should be rewarded too.

The new era has begun. Mr Brown will win or lose the general election in the next six months.

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