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Gordon Brown told his party that it was “no time for a novice” as he demanded the right to lead Britain through the economic crisis to the next election.

The Prime Minister bought himself time with a warmly acclaimed speech to the Labour conference yesterday. In a remark aimed at David Cameron, and swiftly taken to apply also to David Miliband and other pretenders to his job, he said: “Everyone knows that I am in favour of apprenticeships but this is no time for a novice.”

He added: “I want to give the people of this country an unconditional assurance — no ifs, no buts, no small print. My unwavering focus is on taking this country through the challenging economic circumstances we face and building the fair society of the future.”

However Mr Brown’s fight back was in immediate danger last night amid signals that Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, was about to quit. Miss Kelly, a Roman Catholic, was known to be unhappy about the Embryology Bill but it appeared to be a wider dissatisfaction that was prompting the move. Her constituency, Bolton West, is one of Labour’s most marginal seats.

Sarah Brown surprised the conference by taking the stage to introduce her husband. In his 53-minute address, the Prime Minister announced plans to scrap prescription charges for cancer patients and to help elderly people to stay in their homes rather than go into care. Highlighting his role in rescuing Northern Rock, tackling City speculation and helping families hit by the downturn, he said that Britain needed a Labour government now even more than in 1997 and that the Conservatives could not be trusted to run the economy. He was cheered as he told rebels plotting to remove him: “The people of Britain would never forget if we failed to put them first.”

It was a personal and at times emotional performance. Mr Brown said that he did not enter politics to be a celebrity and promised to own up to mistakes, such as the 10p tax debacle, which had “stung” him because he was suddenly seen to be penalising hardworking families. He promised that this would never happen again.

Several Labour MPs told The Times that the speech and its reception should ease his path with the parliamentary party when they returned to the Commons. But none was prepared to look far beyond that. If the opinion polls do not improve he could soon find himself under pressure again. Privately, prominent Blairites seemed less impressed than other MPs.

Following advice to show more of himself, Mr Brown spoke in a faltering voice as he told how the health service saved his sight with care that his parents could never have afforded. “I’m not going to try to be something I’m not. And if people say I’m too serious, quite honestly there’s a lot to be serious about — I’m serious about doing a serious job for all the people of this country.”

He positioned Labour as “the party of fairness”. While the Tories would offer no protection from unbridled market forces, Labour would be “the rock of stability and fairness upon which people stand” during times of economic turmoil, he said.

His administration remained “pro-enterprise, pro-competition”, but market turbulence meant that a “new settlement” was needed where people were rewarded for “what really matters: hard work, effort and enterprise”.

The speech pleased the Left. Derek Simpson, joint leader of the Unite union, said that Mr Brown had scored an “injury-time winner”. Mr Miliband hailed the speech as excellent, adding: “I think Gordon found his true voice.”

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, said: “This was the same old Brown: no apology for the mess he’s got the country into, no new ideas that show us how he’s going to get out of it. Gordon Brown is retreating to the left to save his job. A divided government and a weak prime minister cannot lead the country out of a crisis.”

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