GORDON BROWN brought his Labour leadership campaign bid to Medway on Saturday promising to make the NHS "the envy of the world" and declaring that only his party was competent to keep the economy stable.

The Chancellor failed to add much detail to many of the broad themes he had outlined when he formally launched his campaign on Friday and repeated several of the general policy aims.

His decision to choose the key marginal constituency of Gillingham, held by the Labour loyalist Paul Clark, was seen as underlining the importance of winning over sceptics in crucial marginal constituencies if the party is to hold on to power at the next general election.

Mr Brown was among supporters during an hour-long visit to Gillingham's Sunlight Development Trust, a community centre, and spent much of his time chatting with centre users, including children taking part in a football training session and a number of parents.

While his aides made it clear that Mr Brown would not be taking questions from the media, he told activists during a brief speech that he was determined that a government led by him would continue to improve public services.

He also re-iterated that for him politics was "not about status, glory or fame but to help people in need" and it was a desire to "serve people better and put ourselves at the service of others" that had brought him into active politics.

He acknowledged that despite record investment in education and the NHS, people wanted improvements.

On the economy, he claimed Labour was the only party to be trusted.

"In 1997, nobody thought Labour was competent to run the economy. Now I believe that nobody thinks anyone but Labour is competent to run the economy.

"If anybody had said we could manage to create two and a half million extra jobs and 10 years of sustained growth without a recession and a minimum wage that has risen every year, they would have told us it could not have been achieved," he said.

He described plans to improve the NHS, setting out his aim for more walk-in centres; better access and improvements to NHS Direct.

His own experiences of the NHS, when he nearly lost sight in one eye while at university, made him understand "how important it was to millions of people".

"I want the NHS to be the best insurance policy there is and the envy of the world."

Speaking after the visit, Mr Clark insisted the Chancellor would win over doubters in the electorate as they got to know him better.

Asked if he felt Mr Brown had the same appeal as Mr Blair for "middle England" voters, he said: "People have only known him as the Chancellor but now they are getting to see him as a prospective Prime Minister. He is a family man and understands the issues facing ordinary people."