Presentation skills need work, Brown tells magazine

London: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, often portrayed as a dour figure, has told a men's magazine that he needs to improve his presentation skills to get his message across to voters.

Brown, whose Labour Party is trailing in opinion polls ahead of an election due by next June, opened up to GQ magazine in an interview ranging from bank bonuses to his favourite Saturday night television viewing.

Interviewed by former British tabloid newspaper editor Piers Morgan, Brown, 58, was pressed to acknowledge his weaknesses.

"Well, I could present our message a lot better, I'm actually shy by nature rather than extrovert, someone who feels that your actions should speak for themselves, but that's not the way politics works these days," Brown said in excerpts of the interview released by GQ.

"However, the opposition have tried to turn my strengths into weaknesses, making out that I'm indecisive when in fact I've been consistently decisive," he added.

Charity

Asked about what he would do after his political career was over, Brown said: "When I leave office I want to be involved in charitable work."

Brown, who replaced Blair as prime minister mid-term in 2007, said opposition leader David Cameron was "a very good politician" but said that he did not socialise with his rival.

Asked about the big issue of what he watches on Saturday night, Brown said he was a fan of talent show the X Factor.