For a good year since last autumn’s on and then off election, pretty much everything went wrong for Gordon Brown. In recent months, a string of by-election defeats showed there were no safe Labour seats so long as he was prime minister. And then it changed, up to a point.

First and foremost, Mr Brown’s finely judged handling of the credit crisis and courageous scheme to recapitalise the banks have averted a financial meltdown and been eagerly copied in Europe and the US. That is not just policy wonkery but leadership of a high order.