Reid breaks his silence to back Brown

John Reid, the former cabinet minister, has urged Gordon Brown to translate his decisive action over the financial crisis to other policy areas. Breaking his silence since he left the Government in June last year, Mr Reid rallied strongly behind the Prime Minister but reflected fears among Labour MPs that he needs to perform as strongly on other issues as he is doing on his "natural territory" of the economy.

Mr Reid told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that Mr Brown's "brilliant start" as Prime Minister was followed by a "dreadful" year in which everything went wrong. He said: "The tide has turned again and he has shown the qualities that made him the leader. Boldness, leadership, decisiveness, imagination, taking risks on this, and that's had the reward of putting him pre-eminently not only in this country but abroad."

He added: "No one actually knew what to do except Gordon Brown. He had a clear idea, he was decisive, he laid out his plans, he thought strategically, but he responded to the immediate crisis. He was bold and he was given recognition for doing that. Now there's lessons actually, I think, for Gordon in that as well because if he acts like that in other areas in the future, I think he'll get the same response."

Privately, some Labour MPs want Mr Brown to show the same leadership across the board as he has done on the economy by drawing on his experience in 10 years as chancellor. Some have said he is in effect "Chancellor to the world" at present but may look less effective when he "goes back to being Prime Minister". They noted that he was less sure-footed at Prime Minister's Questions last week when David Cameron raised the death of the 17-month-old boy Baby P than when he fielded questions on the economy.

Mr Reid insisted his long silence was not, as many MPs believed, because he disagreed with Mr Brown but so that the media could not misrepresent his views when he spoke out. He believed the unity in the Labour Party after Mr Brown's critics abandoned plans to oust him would continue. "It is also a set of circumstances that have allowed Gordon to show the type of decisiveness and leadership which has restored his fortunes," he said.

The former home secretary, who is still an MP, is chairman of Celtic Football Club and is to chair a new Institute of Security and Resilience Studies at University College, London.

A YouGov poll for The Sunday Times showed the Tories' lead over Labour has fallen to five points, its lowest in a comparable survey this year. It put the Tories on 41 per cent, Labour 36 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 14 per cent. But a ComRes survey for The Independent on Sunday found the Tories had stretched their lead by three points to 11 points over the past month. It put the Tories on 43 per cent, Labour on 32 per cent and the Liberal Democrats down four points on 12 per cent.

Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for International Development and Labour's general election co-ordinator, dismissed speculation that Mr Brown might call an election next spring. He said: "I haven't spoken to Gordon Brown about the possibility of an election. We are getting on with the job".

Face-off: Where Cameron has edge on Brown

*It is the ultimate weapon for a politician: an honest face. And a study suggests that David Cameron is the most naturally blessed party leader when it comes to inspiring trust. A team from the University of Kent asked more than 100 people to rate different faces for trustworthiness on a scale of one to five. They found that people have more faith in individuals with a fuller face shape, feminine features such as a soft jawline, and big, bright, round eyes. Softer eyebrows, a refined nose and a large mouth with thin lips were preferred. The study found Gordon Brown looked the least trustworthy due to his "thick eyebrows, wide nose and the size of his mouth".