Brown attempts "Heathcliff" makeover

By Katherine Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown sought to soften his image on Thursday with a chatty interview that pried into his private life, but drew ridicule after he compared himself to a tormented literary character.

Brown -- frequently referred to as a dour Scot who lacks people skills -- spoke about his sleep patterns and nail-biting habit in an interview with New Statesman magazine.

He also conversed with young voters on YouTube.

But Brown's critics seized on a light-hearted comment in which he likened himself to Heathcliff, the brooding, romantic anti-hero of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights".

When his interviewer said Brown reminded some women of Heathcliff, he answered: "Absolutely correct."

"Well, maybe an older Heathcliff, a wiser Heathcliff."

Heathcliff wandered the Yorkshire moors, tortured by the ghost of his lost love Cathy, and ended his life a broken man.

Opponents in his ruling Labour Party and elsewhere seized on the comments. Brown has slumped so low in opinion polls that the opposition Conservatives are on track for a landslide win in the next general election, due by 2010.