Sarah: I hope to live in No10 for years to come

Gordon Brown's wife, in her first speech at Labour's annual conference, said she expected her husband to win the next election.

"I'm going to be campaigning. I'm going to be there for a fourth Labour term," she told a private reception of Labour women, including MPs, activists and delegates. However, the former PR executive gave no clues about when the Prime Minister would decide to call a poll. Mrs Brown, who will take centre stage when her husband addresses his first Labour conference as leader, has impressed delegates at Bournemouth.

A guest at the invitation-only women's reception said: "Sarah got an extremely warm reception. She was talking about how yes, she was Gordon's wife, but she felt it was important to keep it all as normal as possible for their family. She was very unstarry." Other guests said Mrs Brown had admitted she was still awestruck about living in Downing Street - more than two months after her husband took over the top job.

She said that while showing a visitor around she had opened a door to a room - only to discover that it was a cupboard.

Mrs Brown later attended the New Statesman party at the Royal Bath Hotel, held on the first night of conference each year, without her husband. She posed for pictures with 17-year-old Talha Gannham, from Solihull, who is part of the National Youth Agency - an organisation that encourages young people to become more politically engaged.

He said: "Mrs Brown seemed really nice and down to earth. I asked her if she was enjoying the conference and she said 'very much' and that she was looking forward to the rest of the week. She's a classy lady."

The event also attracted senior Labour figures including Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly.