Gordon Brown again dodged talk of an early election when he was questioned over what help he could offer Labour in Scotland.
Interviewed on BBC radio's Good Morning Scotland, the Prime Minister said: "I don't think I'm going to give a running commentary on election speculation.
"What people want to know from a conference like this is, what's your vision of the future, what are you saying about the new policies, and what are you saying to the country and a whole and not just to your party."
His speech to Labour's conference would cover health, the economy and what could be done internationally to help trouble spots around the world, he said.
"The first and foremost expectation of a government like ours is that people have an economy which is stable and growing and creating jobs, and creating prosperity.
"And I think that people know in Scotland that in the last 10 years we have created huge numbers of jobs, we have had a stable economy, more people have been able to buy their own homes and start becoming homeowners as a result of low mortgages," he said.
"Wherever we've had difficulties that arise from the world economy, whether it's Northern Rock last week or the Asian crisis, a trebling of oil prices, an American recession, we have been able as a government to ensure that Scottish people across the country have the benefits of government that's ensured stability.
"That's a million miles aware from the stop-go policies we have had in the past and the risk that people are not prepared to take with policies that are untried."
He said Labour in Scotland had "a vigorous new leadership" in Wendy Alexander, who had already set out a programme of reform and modernisation.
"One of the things she's talking about, like all of us are talking about, is how the public services - healthcare, education, schools, our policing service -can be more tailored to the needs of the individual," said Mr Brown.
"We have universal services, accessible to all, like the health service.
"We now want these services to be personal to all."
He went on: "At the same time, I think people know in Scotland that the benefits of being part of a UK economy where we have had stability and growth, and where we have been creating jobs, is the foundation for the prosperity and standards and quality of life that people in Scotland can enjoy."
While there was more to do in areas like child poverty, the economic success that Labour could built on was key to the future of Scotland.
And Mr Brown played down the scale of the SNP's Holyrood victory in May.
"I think you just have to remember that the SNP got a third of the vote in the election," he said.
"Two thirds of the people of Scotland want to be part of the UK."
He went on: "I don't think you should underestimate the extent to which it was a very narrow election in the end between the SNP and Labour.
"The SNP had one more seat than Labour at the end of the day, but two thirds of the people of Scotland want to be part of Britain and only one third want to be part of the SNP's idea of a separatist Scotland."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article