Brown's wife lifts lid on 'passionate' PM

In an interview with Grazia magazine, Mrs Brown lifted the lid on life with her Prime Minister husband, and revealed how Gordon Brown had been "very anxious" following his encounter with Gillian Duffy in Rochdale, where he was overheard calling the pensioner a "bigoted woman".

Mrs Brown, a charity campaigner and keen Tweeter, said it was important to keep healthy during the election campaign and the Premier was a "good sleeper".

She said: "Gordon is a good sleeper, and he runs. If he can't get out to run, he'll use a running machine – we have a little gym in the flat."

Asked about the first thing she would do after the election, she said: "Have a glass of wine and a lie-in!"

She described her husband as the "same person I met 15 or 16 years ago".

"He has a big personality," she said. "He is passionate, his energies are directed in a more positive way than he's given credit for.

"He is very good at getting his head around really big things in a way which is breathtaking.

"But I see him being a dad, or with mates or with me.

"He's the same person with the same passions but he is much softer and more personable."