Brown under fire for first gaffe of Britain's election (Roundup)

By Anna Tomforde Apr 28, 2010, 16:32 GMT

London - A week before Britain's crucial general election, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was Wednesday hit by an embarrassing row over his character after calling a potential voter a 'bigoted woman.'

The unguarded remark, made on the campaign trail after he believed that the microphones had been turned off, was described as a 'huge problem' for Brown's struggle to return his Labour Party to power in the May 6 election.

Brown, who immediately apologized for his gaffe, was seen holding his head in his hands in a BBC studio when the tape containing his remarks was played.

'He is mortified by the hurt he has caused, but his mistake shows that he is a human being as well as a politician,' campaign strategist Peter Mandelson said. Brown had not meant what he said.

But commentators said the timing of the incident was 'toxic' for Brown, coming a day before a crucial TV leaders' debate and amid opinion polls which show that Labour trails behind the opposition Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the opinion polls.

Brown was campaigning in Rochdale, near Manchester in northern Britain, when 66-year-old Gillian Duffy pressed him on issues such as pensions, the budget deficit, crime and immigration in what was a tough but good-natured confrontation.

At the end of their lengthy exchange, Brown complimented Duffy, a working class widow and former council worker, on her 'nice red coat' and said 'very nice to meet you' before hurrying to his waiting limousine. Duffy said her questions had been answered and she would happily vote Labour.

But as he got into his car, and unaware that the Sky TV news microphone was still attached to his shirt, Brown could be heard telling his aide: 'That was a disaster - they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It's just ridiculous....'

Asked by his aide what the woman had said, Brown replied: 'Ugh everything! She's just a sort of bigoted woman that said she used to be Labour. I mean it's just ridiculous.'

Minutes later, Brown was in a BBC radio studio in Manchester, apologizing on air for his gaffe and, clearly distressed, holding his head in his hands as his controversial remarks were played.

'I do apologize if I've said anything that has been hurtful,' said Brown, who later also called Duffy and told her that she was a 'good woman,' according to his spokesman.

But Duffy said she was 'very upset' at hearing what Brown said about her, and she would now probably not vote at all.

'He's an educated person, why has he come out with words like that?' she said.

'He's supposed to be leading the country and he's calling an ordinary woman who's come up and asked him questions that most people would ask him ... It's going to be tax, tax, tax for another 20 years to get out of this national debt, and he's calling me a bigot.'

Commentators said the gaffe was 'hugely damaging' for Brown who had been criticized for preferring stage-managed situations to meeting 'ordinary voters.'

The fact that Duffy had been addressing 'perfectly ordinary concerns' shared by many voters was also seen as not being in Brown's favour.

The clash has also reinforced allegations made in recent books that Brown was a 'bully' prone to losing his temper with staff behind closed doors.

'It showed people that there is a nasty side to Gordon Brown,' said George Jones, a political commentator for the Press Association.

But Mandelson, when asked whether the incident could turn into the moment where Brown lost the election, said: 'He made that comment but it is not something he believes. He has apologized and people will judge him by his reaction.'