PRIME MINISTER Gordon Brown committed the first major gaffe of the general election campaign after he was caught on microphone calling a pensioner "a bigoted woman".
Gillian Duffy, 65, had engaged Mr Brown in conversation during his visit to Rochdale over a range of issues, including immigration.
Speaking to his advisers in his car immediately afterwards, Mr Brown said he considered the encounter to be "a disaster" and that he thought Mrs Duffy was "a bigoted woman".
This could be clearly heard on a Sky news microphone which had been attached to his suit with his permission to pick up conversation with voters on his visit.
Of course, the mic should have been removed as soon as Mr Brown got in the car but the fact that it was not demonstrates a complete lack of organisation in the Labour campaign.
In fact, the exchange between Mrs Duffy and Mr Brown had not really been as disastrous as the PM first thought.
While they had clashed on some issues, Mr Brown seemed to deal with the matter politely to Mrs Duffy's face and, in turn, she praised the quality of her grandchildren's school.
The conversation ended amicably with Mr Brown telling Mrs Duffy that it was "very nice" to meet her before his furious and unexpected volte-face inside the car.
It was also notable that the PM was quick to blame other members of his team. He said: "They should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? It's just ridiculous."
After realising his comments had been heard, a "mortified" Mr Brown apologised live on Radio 2 but even his apology was laced with bitterness towards the broadcasters.
He said: "You've got to remember that this was me being helpful to the broadcasters, with my microphone on, rushing into the car because I had to get to another appointment and they have chosen to play my private conversation."
The conversation was technically private but a news organisation was never going to pass up the chance of exposing clear hypocrisy from the PM.
Mr Brown later returned to Rochdale to apologise to Mrs Duffy at her home but the wider damage had already been done.
Indeed, Mr Brown acknowledged as much, and said: "I am under no illusions as to how much scorn some in the media will want to heap upon me in the days ahead."
This was the low point of an already awful election campaign for Labour.
It is in no way similar to former deputy PM John Prescott's infamous punch in 2001 which gained the government as much support as it lost.
Certainly, Mr Brown will not have won over many undecided voters in the swing seats with that performance.
And, while Mrs Duffy was a critical voice, until today she was still a likely Labour voter in a seat won in 2005 by the Liberal Democrats by just 444 votes.
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems' bounce in this campaign shows no signs of dying away with Labour languishing in third place in the polls.
As a result of their position, Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg had come under more and more scrutiny and he will be relieved that Mr Brown's blunder has given him a little breathing space.
It had been a tough couple of days for Mr Clegg after the spotlight had switched to him and, specifically, what he would do in the case of a hung parliament.
With the result of the election not known, perhaps it was understandable that the answer was not particularly clear.
But, in a blow to Mr Brown, Mr Clegg confirmed he would not prop up a PM who had finished third in the popular vote but still had the most seats.
Instead, he said such a result would expose the ridiculous flaws of the first past the post system and strengthen the Lib Dems' call for proportional representation.
The odds on that scenario lengthened after today's events and the Conservatives will hit the campaign trail in the last week with an increased air of confidence of an outright majority.
A strong performance from Tory leader David Cameron in the final leaders' debate on the economy on BBC1 at 8.30pm will be further grounds for optimism among Conservative candidates.
Of course, the Lib Dems will hope that Mr Clegg remains a tough opponent to shrug off and the party can consolidate second place to cause a hung parliament.
But, for Labour, this debate and indeed the election could be an end game - or, at least, it looks that way for Mr Brown whose reputation now lies in tatters.
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