It needed a more powerful engine too. (a Pegasus or Taurus, possibly a Hurcules later on) It's development was a bit delayed by Gloster's preoccupation with the Gladiator. But considdering what the performance it did manage it seemed fairly promising. Perhaps as a back-up to supplement the merlin engined fighters, for overseas use, of with the FAA. (which desperately needed a decent carrier based fighter)
One thing to note though, the aileron response and roll rate was verry good on the a/c and retained it much better at high speeds than the Spit or Hurricane. (almost as well as the P-40) And it had a significantly larger wing area than either the Spitfire or Hurricane and thus lower wingloading. Both of these factors leading to an even more maneuverable fighter than the other two.
And considdering the large wing, there was probably a good deal of space for increased fuel or armament. (also, while much thicker than the Spitfire's wing, it was still a fair bit thinner than the Hurricane's and used the same type of NACA 2200 series airfoil as the P-40, Spitfire, and several other cotemporaries, opposed to the Clark YH airfoil of the Hurricane)
And visibility would be very good with the same bubble-like canopy as the Gladiator.