By Richard Evans, Reporter

Gordon Brown was in town for the Welsh Labour Party Conference at Venue Cymru last Friday. As a reporter on a weekly newspaper it's not every day I get the chance to interview people of the stature of the Prime Minister, so I thought I'd burden you with my reflection a week on.

More often in my job I spend my days dealing with politicians varying from local MPs and AMs, to county, town and community councillors, as well as the odd B to Z-list celeb thrown in, usually plugging their latest show at Llandudno's same venue.

After enduring a four and a half hour wait in a stuffy theatre equipped with airport-style security, myself and a couple of other local journalists were ushered into a room and it wasn't long before we were joined by the PM.

Obviously, I was slightly nervous, but it suddenly struck me - sitting 2ft in front of me was the guy who was not only running the country, but was just much more adept at dodging questions than the lower-level politicians I've become more accustomed to dealing with.

As your local reporter it's my job to get the answers on issues that you want, and if Mr Brown had given me more time I would've had a list as long as my arm of questions on everything from windfarms to the Welsh language to the Assembly and devolution. But as it happens I got two questions, and a shared 10 minutes, for which I was very grateful - he even gave me the time to have my picture taken with him!

As it happens, I wouldn't have needed any more time. You see, the Prime Minister didn't have opinions, just policies. He had been briefed on my likely questions by one of his many minions beforehand, and he very transparently knew nothing more on the subjects than what he had been told, and instead launched into a Labour spiel and damned the Tories for everything and anything, despite them not being in power since I was 18!

Of course, I didn't expect him to know about every local matter of contention affecting Conwy and North Wales, and I also realise the Assembly had devolved power over some of the issues I raised, but still I was disappointed. The interview wasn't a waste of time, far from it, but he refused to give his opinion on matters affecting the people of North Wales and that in itself was worth a story, and the five hours stood in a clammy Venue Cymru without so much as a glass of water.

And I riled him. I actually had a debate with Gordon Brown! I was never going to turn up, shut up and nod like a dog just because he happens to be very important. I pressed him and pressed him, only because he wasn't answering the questions I put to him. I would have gone further but his entourage would have cut the thing short if I'd strayed from the path any more than I did.

It would have been arrogant of me to expect to breeze in there and force him to break the habit of a lifetime. But if there is a next time, and I hope there is, I will have learnt a valuable lesson: Gordon Brown is basically not that far removed from any other politician I've dealt with before, he's just good at his job. And hopefully that very valuable ten minutes with this VIP will help me be better at mine.

Read the full report on page 4 of this week's North Wales Weekly News.

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