Brown is still driving for the top job

A man who has experienced the loss of his first and only child might be expected to show at least some of the scars of his personal strain. He might also ask for an extended period of solitude and detachment from affairs of state. But that man is not Gordon Brown. Today's Budget was postponed by no more than a week to allow Brown and his family a decent period to grieve and recuperate. Then it was business as usual.

Today's Chancellor is composed of sterner stuff than most. The Church of Scotland upbringing and the sight of his late father's absolute commitment to service has established in Brown a core of steel so tough that the possibility of making concessions to his private feelings is unthinkable. Old friends speak of a devotion to duty and a belief in his work so profound that even discussing the strain he experiences is ruled out of the question. One former college friend says Brown is "incredibly motivated, altruistic, intelligent and far-sighted. He was like that when he was 16, so why should he change?" That close friend also insists that Brown's drive to lead the country is as strong as ever. "This is a long-term project. Gordon is not likely to be deflected."

The Brown family do not take the modern approach to suffering and confide in a counsellor when times are tough. Instead, they follow the advice of Ramsay MacDonald, a former Labour prime minister, who dealt with the death of his wife by "work, work and more work". Friends of the Brown family say that Gordon has applied himself to the preparation of this Budget with a fervour extreme even by his characteristically workaholic standards. They also go on to insist that Brown has been appropriately supportive to Sarah in her hour of need.

Brown's capacity to focus on work, to the exception of almost all other concerns, is legendary among his friends and close advisers. One has told how Brown, while still a fledgling politician in Scotland, was so engrossed in a discussion about political tactics with a colleague that he tried to get out of a car by opening its door into the face of oncoming traffic. Fortunately he was not hurt, but the door was shattered and Brown was shaken. The unceasing dedication to work means that Brown, even when his personal life as been at its most troubled recently, has rarely cut himself off from key political contacts or the telephone.

Continuity and consistency are two of the props Brown has employed to deal with the recent strain. So when he came to preparing the 2002 Budget, he turned to the same bevy of friends and contacts that have seen him right in the past. These include Scots politicians such as Murray Elder and Douglas Alexander. But, importantly, given the current circumstances, they also include Dr Colin Currie, a friend of Brown's from his days at Edinburgh University, who has regularly been drafted in by Brown, over the heads of Treasury civil servants, to assist in drafting the Budget speech.

This consultant geriatrician at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary, who has made a name for himself as a writer of thrillers, working under the nom de plume of Colin Douglas, supported Brown when the ailing Jennifer Jane was brought to the Royal Infirmary shortly before she died.

Currie saw the baby on a number of occasions and friends say the bond between the two men has been a vital support as Brown began the process of recovery from the immediate grief and then became immersed in the Budget process. Some have speculated that Brown's recent statements of commitment to the NHS may have been influenced by his enormous respect for Currie.

The birth and death of Jennifer Jane, the Browns' twomonth-premature baby, was a personal tragedy played out under an intense media spotlight. The family's swift change from elation at having produced the "most beautiful daughter in the world", as Brown chuffed in his typically deprecating way, to tragedy and despair were amply captured by the media. The picture of a grim couple being driven away from the Edinburgh hospital where the baby died spoke to the nation. The strain of having one's personal tragedy talked about so widely would have tested the solidity of many marriages. But friends say this one was strengthened as a result. "The marriage has brought about an immense change in Gordon's life," says a friend. "He is very supportive of Sarah, for whom this has been a dreadful experience." Another comments: "Sarah, with all the physical discomfort, has taken these events harder."

Brown has shuttled between his London homes in Downing Street and Westminster and Scotland to ensure Sarah, now busily engaged in replying to the many thousands of well-wishers' letters, has the support she needs as she recuperates. Deep family loyalty has been critical in ensuring Brown has retained his composure, and Brown has been supported by his older brother, John, who delivered the oration at his daughter's funeral. Gordon's younger brother, Andrew, has helped protect their aged mother, Elizabeth, who was herself devastated by the turn of events, from the media scrum that followed the baby's death.

While the individuals continue to grieve, observers of the more cynical Westminster scene believe that Brown has come out of the tragedy with more of the credentials to be a politician who can reach the people and ultimately perhaps even lead his country. The perception of a highly efficient, but cold technocrat changed over the course of 10 days.

The new Brown is warmer and more approachable. When he threw off his tie and dark suit, smiled with joy, the Iron Chancellor warmed the hearts of the nation. When he donned the dark suit of mourning, the nation understood his tragedy and mourned with him. A close Scottish friend said: "The whole experience has made him more visibly human. He has always cared about others from pure altruism, but he now has personal experience of close tragedy. The man has always had human feelings, but now suffering has come closer. He remains a profoundly altruistic intellectual."

As Brown approaches the Budget, the public's appreciation of his recent pain will spur him on. There seems little doubt, today's Budget will add to Brown's credentials to claim the top job he so deeply desires, when that position becomes vacant.