Gordon Brown routinely telephones voters at home to talk about Labour policy, Downing Street has confirmed.

The prime minister is understood to ask the No 10 switchboard to put him through to people who have written to him with questions or concerns. Politicians dating back to US President Jimmy Carter have personally telephoned voters but usually only at election time.

Mr Brown's decision to man the phones emerged in trade magazine PR Week, which claimed it was part of a new campaign to "humanise" him in the eyes of voters. But Number 10 insisted Mr Brown had always phoned voters to discuss Labour policy, even in his days as Chancellor.

"The PM takes a great interest in correspondence that comes in. He likes to keep in touch with voters who take the trouble to contact him," said a spokesman.

There now, who says cleverthingies doesn't do hard edged political analysis...

Why did he want to know what I was wearing?

The original was here.