Every picture tells the strain

Tough decision for the picture editors today, with some quite brilliant portraits of Gordon Brown. The back of his head and the hunched shoulders work well in The Guardian and The Sun, although the door number gets lost a bit on the Sun's version. Simple and effective in The Guardian. The Independent and the FT use similar pictures but the Indie, even with the missing chin, really shows the strain. Why the background in the FT? Then there is the Mirror - strain and defiance. Excellent photographs that sum up the moment. The Express, on the other hand, chooses to splutter on with a shabby, sordid stitch-up-type headline. The Daily Star quite remarkably opts for three dull headshots of politicians in suits (when was the last time that happened?). Its headline though sums up the whole affair perfectly. Memorable front pages. Thanks to The Guardian for drawing them all together.