Blow for Brown as focus group rejects new facial expressions

Gordon Brown's attempts to soften his dour image as the Labour leadership contest approaches have run into trouble. A focus group commissioned by the chancellor's camp was shown more than two hundred new facial expressions being considered by his team for the upcoming campaign but rejected all of them. When asked to give the first word or phrase that came to mind to describe the chancellor's efforts, more than half of the group said they were "terrifying". The findings leave Brown's image consultants just a few weeks to come up with a new look before the leadership election expected in May.