Dancing with Gordon: The Prime Minister Has Cleverly Rearranged the Political Choreography, but He Is Too Desperate for Quick Hits. He Must Watch His Step, Writes Steve Richards

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One of the few iron laws in modern politics is that a prime minister must give some meaning to the shapeless torrent of events. The narrative can be tendentious or simplistic, as long as it strikes a chord. Margaret Thatcher was a supreme storyteller. So was Tony Blair. Briefly, John Major pulled it off as well. This is not an optional extra for a political leader, but a necessity, a precondition to achieving further success.

After a successful autumn, Gordon Brown has lost some momentum. Recent polls suggest that the Conservatives have established a significant lead and that voters' confidence in Brown's handling of the economy has diminished. Perhaps this is entirely down to the more tangible bad economic news of recent weeks, but I doubt it. After all, there was no great sense of euphoria towards the end of last year when there were signs of a Brown bounce.

In the autumn, Brown displayed impressive leadership on two separate fronts. First, he acted in ways that appeared to make a significant difference, most spectacularly with his rescue package for the banks. Second, he devised a language to accompany the hyperactivity, phrases that were repeated often, like a jukebox primed to play the same tunes again and again. In several speeches and soundbites Brown declared that he "would do what it takes"--in contrast to the Conservatives, who were the "do nothing …