Gordon Brown set for Commons return

(REUTERS)

Gordon Brown will return to the political fray today when he delivers his first speech in the House of Commons since Labour's general election defeat almost six months ago.

The former prime minister almost vanished from public sight during the creation of the Coalition Government and its announcement of huge spending cuts. He is due to make a reappearance in a late-night debate on the threat to jobs at a naval shipyard near his Fife constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

Mr Brown has been spotted a few times in the Commons, but has not spoken in the chamber since Prime Minister's Question Time on 7 April. He has refused to respond to books painting unflattering portraits of him, including Tony Blair noting that he had "zero" emotional intelligence.