Gordon Brown offered his vision of the "good society" at Labour's annual conference today, but it was what he had to say about himself that caught the most attention.

In an enthusiastically, if not ecstatically, received speech, the chancellor all but declared his candidacy for the not-quite-yet-vacant party leadership by saying he would "relish the opportunity to take on David Cameron and the Conservative Party".

That got the best reception from delegates desperate to be cheered up after weeks of poor press coverage and poll findings sparked by his deteriorating relationship with Tony Blair.

In perhaps his most contrite public statement ever, Brown acknowledged - to an extent - his part in the "difficulties".

They had "distracted from what matters", he said, "I regret that". Not exactly an apology, but an admission at least.

He heaped praised on the prime minister, which Blair gracefully accepted. Brown could learn a thing or two from his rival and sometime-friend about hiding his true feelings in his face, starting tomorrow when it will be his turn to watch from the platform.

John Prescott on the other hand struggled to stay awake, let alone look interested for most of the address.

The deputy prime minister was one of a number of cabinet ministers namechecked by Brown, including arch-Blairites John Reid, John Hutton and Tessa Jowell, as well as potential leadership contender Alan Johnson.

He pledged to lead a team of all the talents in the party, as he strived to show a warmer and more inclusive side to his personality.

He hinted at, without detailing, his fabled future planned policy programme. "We don't today have a written constitution," he teased, while also repeating his pledge to increase education "investment", not necessarily the same thing as spending, to the average private school level.

He challenged Cameron to match that commitment and also threatened to spike Tory guns on the environment by publishing the Treasury's review of climate change economics "in the next few days", which happens to be when the Conservatives are holding their conference.

And in a way that few could remember him doing so explicitly before, Brown talked about himself and what brought him into politics in the first place.

Acknowledging that as a "quite private person" he has not always felt comfortable doing so, he mentioned his "moral compass" inherited from his mother and father: "To help those least able to help themselves".

"That's why I joined the Labour Party," he added. "Out of faith, faith in people... not fame or personality."

In a jibe at Cameron - and possibly Blair - he dismissed politicians interested in "image and nothing else".

He also confronted head-on what some see as his Achilles heel, his nationality. Is he embarrassed of his Scottishness? Anything but, he claimed: "I am proud to be Scottish and British."

There were even a couple of jokes at his own expense, referring to his Arctic Monkeys gaffe and love of Prudence ("Yes she will always be around").

Whether it will be enough to silence the doubters or convince the public remains to be seen. However his search for the "soul" of the Labour Party certainly struck a chord with those inside the hall.