To Downing Street, then, for Gordon Brown autumn relaunch number three. Or is it four? It’s hard to keep track. When the going gets tough, the tough get relaunching. But until yesterday Gordon Brown had been doing it exclusively for the TV cameras. Now he came before us in the flesh and, well, I can tell you that there is a lot less flesh now.

The PM looks as if he has lost about a stone, and it shows in his face in particular. The cheeks look almost gaunt. The jaw, always thrusting, now juts. The neck has gone a bit wattley, and his Minotaur head seems even larger because his shoulders are not quite as broad. He needs a new suit, though. Perhaps he is waiting to see if, deprived of his daily Pilates, the weight will go back on. For the PM, the credit crunch could be the credit munch.

This was the energy relaunch. It took place in a room with 16 light bulbs, all blazing. I guess it’s hard to economise when you’ve got chandeliers.

So how many politicians does it take to change a lightbulb policy? Answer: three. There was Gordo (well, 90 per cent of him), John “Mad Eyes” Hutton and Hilary “Harry Potter” Benn. As a trio, they looked quite alarming.

Gordon’s lectern bore the motto “save energy, save energy”. And, also, of course, save capital letters. This is very much a lower-case relaunch. Gordon has been thinking all summer about how to counter the vertiginous rise in our utility bills. He feels our pain (he told us that again yesterday) and now he’s thought long and hard about it, he has the answer.

We can lower our own bills. Yes, it’s so simple! The PM has discovered that Britain is lagging behind on loft lagging. So Gordo has fixed it so the poor will get free loft lagging and the rest of us will get a discount. Isn’t it great to be able to lower our own bills by spending more money?

I can only imagine what is coming next: perhaps a national drive to get us all to buy draught excluders shaped like sausage dogs. The PM and his dynamic duo could sell them on the QVC shopping channel.

Gordon’s other big relaunch idea is direct debits. He wants to “actively promote” the use of direct debits. He told us it was all about “lasting change”, then announced: “Our objective is nothing less than a sea-change in energy efficiency and consumption.” As he said this, I noticed the empty room behind him was also fully lit.

I don’t know if it’s the Pilates or what (drugs?) but the PM was very calm and collected. He remains completely convinced of his own superior decision making. “I made the right decision last autumn,” he announced about the election.

And he was right on the economy, nuclear power, planning reform, climate change and so on. But, he was asked, do you ever have a dark night of the soul and think, “Actually, I’m the problem”?

This brought muted giggles from the hacks and one of Gordo’s terrifyingly white smiles (I actually saw a lightbulb glinting off one of his front teeth).

“Go around the world!” he cried. “Talk to any president in any country and talk about how government is having to deal with what is a completely unique situation. Our job is to take people through this!”

When it was over, Gordon strode out of the room. He didn’t, however, turn out the lights. The sea-change may take a little time yet.

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