Brown says good to be impatient and strong-willed

Brown must call a legislative election by June 3 and his Labour Party is trailing the Conservatives in the opinion polls, although the gap has narrowed since January and polls suggest neither party will win an overall majority.

"With me, for better or for worse, what you see is what you get," Brown said in a speech to business leaders at Thomson Reuters, arguing that it was not possible to separate policy from character.

"It's about not telling people what they want to hear, but telling them what they need to know," Brown added.

In portraying himself as a straight-talking, no-frills leader, Brown was implicitly drawing a comparison with Conservative leader David Cameron, his main opponent.

Brown was chacellor for 10 years until he took over as prime minister from Tony Blair in 2007.

Cameron, a former public relations spokesman for a TV company, is well-known for slick presentational skills including a habit of delivering long speeches without notes.

Labour has sought to portray Cameron, 15 years younger than Brown, as inexperienced and superficial, in contrast to Brown, who is a less fluent public speaker but a master of detail.

Brown has repeatedly attacked Cameron over campaign posters in which the Conservative leader's image appeared to be airbrushed to make it look more flattering.

The Conservative retort is that with Britain's public debt growing fast while its economy struggles to crawl out of recession, Brown's record is hardly a strong selling point.