In recent days Gordon Brown has seized on the financial crisis to steal the limelight from rebel MPs and bolster his image as the only person capable of taking on – and fixing – Britain’s economic crisis.

In interviews in the first few days of Labour’s conference in Manchester, the Prime Minister has gone to great lengths to “personalise” the rescue of HBOS and the temporary ban on speculators from taking bets on bank stocks.

But just how much credit can the Prime Minister claim?

It is clear that Mr Brown played a crucial role in Lloyds’ £12 billion takeover of HBOS, but it would be untrue to say that he engineered the whole thing. Banking sources on both sides say that they were talking about their options as early as February when it was clear that HBOS was under strain. One said that they were tugging their sleeves about a domestic merger but knew the competition issues would be probably insurmountable unless there was a moment of extreme stress.

When that moment came last week it was not clear that a takeover of such mammoth proportions would get the green light. But at a chance meeting between Mr Brown and Sir Victor Blank, the Lloyds chairman, at a City function, the Prime Minister made it clear he would waive competition rules to allow the merger to go through quickly. Without that reassurance, inside sources say that Lloyds would never have pressed ahead.

One source said: “We don’t mind at all if they claim credit for the whole deal. That means that they are inextricably tied to it and it cannot be allowed to fail.”

As one No 10 official saw it: “Gordon knew Victor Blank very well and was able to have a laugh and chat with him. Would any other leader be able to do that?”

It is less clear that Mr Brown had a direct hand in the decision to ban short-selling by speculative investors. On the night that the news was announced, his aides were at pains to say that the decision was made by the Financial Services Authority as the independent regulator. Yet as the stock market rallied and investors worldwide welcomed the tough action, Mr Brown was keen to be seen as the man who made it all happen.

Likewise, he is using tough language on City bonuses, reminding people that the need for international banking surveillance is something “I have been pushing . . . for years”.

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