PM 'not keen on trappings of power'

Gordon Brown has said he has no interest in the trappings of power and could walk away from Downing Street at any time.

The Prime Minister, who faced down an attempted leadership coup earlier this month, also indicated his "hurt" at some of the criticism levelled at him over that period.

In an unusually personal interview with The Guardian, he admitted he wishes he was a better communicator and claimed he is not very good at political manoeuvring.

Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the failed backbench plot to oust him a fortnight ago, Mr Brown said: "To be honest, you could walk away from all of this tomorrow.

"I'm not interested in what accompanies being in power. It wouldn't worry me if I never returned to any of those places - Downing Street, Chequers. That would not worry me at all. And it would probably be good for my children."

He hinted that he might be drawn towards teaching - a "great profession" - as a post-Downing Street career and insisted he had never been keen on political machinations.

He said that it had been a "revelation" to him at university that politics was "less about ideals and more about manoeuvres", adding: "I don't actually think I am very good at it at all."

His comments follow the smeargate controversy in which Damian McBride, one of his closest aides, was forced to resign for suggesting spreading unfounded claims about Tory MPs and the PM also faced criticism for the culture of "macho politics" in Number 10 by resigning minister Jane Kennedy earlier this month.

But he said: "Look, find weaknesses in me, criticise me for my weaknesses - I'm not as great a presenter of information or communicator as I would like to be - but the one thing people should not say is that I'm surrounded by some group of conspirators."

Appearing sanguine about his future, Mr Brown nevertheless signalled that the relentless criticism of him since becoming premier in 2007 had got to him, saying: "However much you feel responsible, and however much your integrity is... and you feel hurt by what people are saying, you've got to deal with it."