By PETER OBORNE
At the end, the manner of his parting spoke volumes about this most paradoxical of men. For Gordon Brown was a man of massive contradictions. A Christian idealist who was also a political street fighter capable of the most venal behaviour.
On Monday, we saw the dark side of this tribal Labourite - a son of the manse. The premier announced that he was quitting, but in an act of shameless and tawdry cynicism, guaranteed to the Lib Dems proportional representation without a referendum in a desperate attempt to retain power for his broken party.
And then yesterday, his valedictory speech revealed the other Brown: warm, witty, generous and statesmanlike.
Gordon Brown
Behind the smiles, however, this most proud of men will have been nursing a bitter humiliation.
His going was not of his choosing and he leaves behind him a Britain with the largest debts in our peacetime history. Meanwhile, his beloved Labour Party is in crisis, with no obvious next leader, and on the verge of open civil war over its future direction.
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