Leading article: Pimp my ride

"Project Volvo" was the name given by Gordon Brown's senior team of advisers to their efforts to rebrand the former chancellor as a prime minister in waiting.

The Swedish car manufacturer is not happy with the secret document's association of Volvo (and Brown) with the attributes "dependable, robust but ultimately dour".

But perhaps Volvo (and the Brown team before them in 2006) are making a mistake in seeing this association as something negative. After all, many people like a Volvo, even if it's not the most exciting car on the forecourt. Not everyone wants a TVR (Blair), which looks terrific, takes you for a fast ride, but lets you down when it really counts. A Reliant Robin (Johnson, B) is great for a laugh, but you wouldn't want to drive it to work every day. The Rolls-Royce (Cameron) might scream upper-class elegance but it's liable to end up leaving the purchaser a good deal worse off.

Maybe Mr Brown's advisers were off the marque in their determination to trade up.