The world can wait as Gordon Brown finds his focus again at home in Fife

HE HAS been involved in politics at the highest level, entertaining presidents and thrashing out deals among finance ministers from across the globe.

But now, Gordon Brown's life appears to have gained a new focus as he revealed local issues in his Fife constituency have been his main concern since he left Downing Street in May.

On the day that his publishers confirmed the former prime minister's account of the global financial crisis will be released in November, Mr Brown shed further light on the life he has led since he stepped aside as Labour leader, in the wake of his party's defeat in the general election.

As well as a programme of regular exercise and constant reading, Mr Brown reported that writing and visits around his constituency have occupied him since he left frontline politics.

He said he felt at home in Fife and did not miss the perks that came with being the most powerful man in the country.

"I'm very lucky that my constituency is where I was at school, and where I was brought up," he said. "Kirkcaldy High School is a very big school, so I still have friends, and colleagues, from that time. But certainly, locally, where I've been concentrating my activities in the last two months … it's great to do some of these visits, not just to thank people, but to find out if there's something we can do."

Mr Brown indicated that his plans lay in international politics, rather than a return to the UK national stage.

At the weekend, the former prime minister visited Uganda to attend an African Union meeting and has in the past been tipped for a job with an international institution.

He said: "I'm doing local stuff, and something international, but I'm not really doing much national. What I've done in the last two months is really what I wanted to do, which is do things locally. That's been my first interest, to put something back into a local community that I feel very much part of, and I feel I've got a duty to, but I think I'll probably do more on international development and other areas of policy in the future."

He played down suggestions he could follow Peter Mandelson and Tony Blair and publish a warts-and-all account of his time in government, but he did confirm that more books were in the pipeline.

"I will write, but I'm more interested in writing about other people, or other issues."

Reflecting on his much-critiised personal demeanour and the attacks that came from all sides as Labour slid in the polls, Mr Brown appeared sanguine, maintaining that public life brought "downs as well as ups".

"Sometimes, it's not very easy," he conceded. "But if you look at the history of anybody trying to do change, there's obviously a difficult time, so I don't try to compare myself with other people who are far more famous, and far bigger change-makers."