Gordon Brown

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The Right Honourable
Gordon Brown

MP
Gordon Brown, smartly dressed and smiling
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Assumed office
27 June 2007
MonarchElizabeth II
Preceded byTony Blair
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
2 May 1997 – 27 June 2007
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byKenneth Clarke
Succeeded byAlistair Darling
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
18 July 1992 – 2 May 1997
LeaderJohn Smith
Tony Blair
Preceded byJohn Smith
Succeeded byKenneth Clarke
Member of Parliament
for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Dunfermline East (1983 – 2005)
Assumed office
9 June 1983
Preceded byPosition established
Majority18,216 (43.6%)
Personal details
Born (1951-02-20) 20 February 1951 (age 73)
Govan, United Kingdom
Political partyLabour Party (UK)
SpouseSarah Brown
ChildrenJennifer Jane (deceased), John Macaulay and James Fraser
Residence(s)10 Downing Street (Official)
North Queensferry (Private)[1]
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
Signature
WebsiteGovernment Website

James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party. Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair and three days after becoming Leader of the governing Labour Party. Immediately prior, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour government from 1997 to 2007 under Tony Blair.

Brown has a PhD in history from the University of Edinburgh and spent his early career working as a television journalist.[2][3] He has been a Member of Parliament since 1983; first for Dunfermline East and since 2005 for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.[4][5] As Prime Minister, he also holds the offices of First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service.

Brown's time as Chancellor was marked by major reform of Britain's monetary and fiscal policy architecture, transferring interest rate setting powers to the Bank of England, by a wide extension of the powers of the Treasury to cover much domestic policy and by transferring responsibility for banking supervision to the Financial Services Authority.[6] Controversial moves included the abolition of Advance Corporation Tax (ACT) relief in his first budget,[7][8] and the removal in his final budget of the 10 per cent "starting rate" of personal income tax which he had introduced in 1999.[9]

After an initial rise in opinion polls,[10] Brown's time as Prime Minister has seen his approval ratings fall and the Labour Party suffer its worst local election results in 40 years.[11][12] Despite public and parliamentary pressure on his leadership he remains leader of the Labour party.[13]

Early life and career before parliament

Gordon Brown was born in Govan, Glasgow, Scotland.[14] His father was John Ebenezer Brown (1914–1998), a minister of the Church of Scotland and a strong influence on Gordon.[15] His mother Jessie Elizabeth Souter, known as Bunty, died in 2004 aged 86.[16] She was the daughter of John Souter, a timber merchant.[17] Gordon was brought up with his brothers John and Andrew Brown in a manse in Kirkcaldy — the largest town in Fife, Scotland across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh.[18] In common with many other notable Scots, he is therefore often referred to as a "son of the manse". Brown was educated first at Kirkcaldy West Primary School where he was selected for an experimental fast stream education programme, which took him two years early to Kirkcaldy High School for an academic hothouse education taught in separate classes.[19] At age 16 he wrote that he loathed and resented this "ludicrous" experiment on young lives.[20]

He was accepted by the University of Edinburgh to study history at the age of only 16. He suffered a retinal detachment after being kicked in the head during an end-of-term rugby union match at his old school. He was left blind in his left eye, despite treatment including several operations and lying in a darkened room for weeks at a time. Later at Edinburgh, while playing tennis, he noticed the same symptoms in his right eye. Brown underwent experimental surgery at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and his eye was saved.[21] Brown graduated from Edinburgh with First Class Honours MA in 1972, and stayed on to complete his PhD (which he gained in 1982), titled The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland 1918-29.[22] In 1972, while still a student and with strong connections with the previous Dean of Admissions, Brown was elected Rector of the University of Edinburgh, the convener of the University Court.[23] Brown served as Rector until 1975, and he also edited the document The Red Paper on Scotland.[24] From 1976 to 1980 he was employed as a lecturer in Politics at Glasgow College of Technology - in the 1979 general election, Brown stood for the Edinburgh South constituency and lost to the Conservative candidate, Michael Ancram.[22] From 1980 he worked as a journalist at Scottish Television, later serving as current affairs editor until his election to parliament in 1983.[25] He also worked as a tutor for the Open University.[26]

Election to parliament and opposition

Gordon Brown was elected to Parliament on his second attempt as a Labour MP for Dunfermline East in 1983 general election and became opposition spokesman on Trade and Industry in 1985. In 1986, he published a biography of the Independent Labour Party politician James Maxton, the subject of his PhD thesis. Brown was Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 1987 to 1989 and then Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, before becoming Shadow Chancellor in 1992.[22][27] Having led the Labour Movement Yes campaign, refusing to join the cross-party Yes for Scotland campaign, during the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum, while other senior Labour politicians — including Robin Cook, Tam Dalyell and Brian Wilson - campaigned for a No vote, Brown was subsequently a key participant in the Scottish Constitutional Convention, signing the Claim of Right for Scotland in 1989.[28]

After the sudden death of Labour leader John Smith in May 1994, Brown did not contest the leadership after Tony Blair became favourite. It has long been rumoured a deal was struck between Blair and Brown at the former Granita restaurant in Islington, in which Blair promised to give Brown control of economic policy in return for Brown not standing against him in the leadership election.[29] Whether this is true or not, the relationship between Blair and Brown has been central to the fortunes of "New Labour", and they have mostly remained united in public, despite reported serious private rifts.[30]

As Shadow Chancellor, Brown worked to present himself as a fiscally competent Chancellor-in-waiting, to reassure business and the middle class that Labour could be trusted to run the economy without fuelling inflation, increasing unemployment, or overspending — legacies of the 1970s. However, since becoming Chancellor, inflation has been kept under control, consistantly below 5%,[31] but unemployment increased to 7%,[32] In 2005 following a reorganisation of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland, Brown became MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath at the 2005 election.[33]

Chancellor of the Exchequer

Gordon Brown standing at a podium. Text on the podium states "annual meetings". A number of flags hang in the background
Gordon Brown speaking at the annual World Bank/IMF meeting in 2002
Main article: Chancellorship of Gordon Brown

Brown's ten years and two months as Chancellor of the Exchequer made him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history.[21] The Prime Minister's website highlights some achievements from Brown's decade as Chancellor: making the Bank of England independent and delivering an agreement on poverty and climate change at the G8 summit in 2005.[22] On taking office as Chancellor of the Exchequer Brown gave the Bank of England operational independence in monetary policy, and thus responsibility for setting interest rates through the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee.[34] He also changed the inflation measure from Retail Price Index to Consumer Price Index and transferred responsibility for banking supervision to the Financial Services Authority.[35] This decision has been criticised for contributing to the 2007 banking crisis.[36] Brown's 2000 Spending Review outlined a major expansion of government spending, particularly on health and education. In his April 2002 budget, Brown increased national insurance to pay for health spending. He also introduced working tax credits.[37][38] In October 1997, Brown took control of the United Kingdom's membership of the European single currency issue by announcing the Treasury would set five economic tests[39] to ascertain whether the economic case had been made. In June 2003 the Treasury indicated the tests had not been passed.[40] Between 1999 and 2002 Brown sold 60% of the UK's gold reserves at $275 an ounce. It was claimed that the decision to announce the sale and the timing resulted in a 2billion pound loss.[41] Brown was reported to believe that it is appropriate to remove much of the unpayable Third World debt but does not think that all debt should be wiped out.[42] On 20 April 2006, in a speech to the United Nations Ambassadors, Brown outlined a "Green" view of global development.

In the 1997 election and subsequently, Brown pledged to not increase the basic or higher rates of income tax. Over his Chancellorship, he reduced the basic rate from 23% to 20%. However, in all but his final budget, Brown increased the tax thresholds in line with inflation, rather than earnings, resulting in fiscal drag. Corporation tax fell under Brown, from a main rate of 33% to 28%, and from 24% to 19% for small businesses.[43] In 1999, he introduced a lower tax band of 10%. He abolished this in his last budget in 2007 to reduce the basic rate from 22% to 20%, increasing tax for 5 million people,[44] and, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculations leaves those earning between £5,000 and £18,000 as the biggest losers.[45] According to the OECD UK taxation has increased from a 39.3% share of gross domestic product in 1997 to 42.4% in 2006, going to a higher level than Germany.[46] This increase has mainly been attributed to active government policy, and not simply to the growing economy. Conservatives have accused Brown of imposing "stealth taxes". A commonly reported example resulted in 1997 from a technical change in the way corporation tax is collected, the indirect effect of which was for the dividends on stock investments held within pensions to be taxed, thus lowering pension returns and contributing to the demise of most of the final salary pension funds in the UK.[47] The Treasury contend that this tax change was crucial to long-term economic growth. In 2000, Brown was accused of starting a political row about higher education (referred to as the Laura Spence Affair) when he accused the University of Oxford of elitism in its admissions procedures, describing its decision not to offer a place to state school pupil Laura Spence as "absolutely outrageous".[48] Lord Jenkins, then Oxford Chancellor and himself a former Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, said "nearly every fact he used was false."[49] In 2006 there was some speculation over the link between Brown's brother Andrew and one of the main nuclear lobbyists, EDF Energy,[50] given the finding that the government did not carry a proper public consultation on the use of nuclear power in its 2006 Energy Review.[51]

Run up to succeeding Tony Blair

Main articles Labour Party leadership election, 2007 and Timeline for the Labour Party leadership elections, 2007

In October 2004 Tony Blair announced he would not lead the party into a fourth general election, but would serve a full third term.[52] Political comment over the relationship between Brown and Blair continued up to and beyond the 2005 election, which Labour won with a reduced parliamentary majority and reduced vote share. Blair announced on 7 September 2006 that he would step down within a year.[53] Brown was the clear favourite to succeed Blair, he was the only candidate spoken of seriously in Westminster. Appearances and news coverage leading up to the handover were interpreted as preparing the ground for Brown to become Prime Minister, in part by creating the impression of a statesman with a vision for leadership and global change. This enabled Brown to signal the most significant priorities for his agenda as Prime Minister; speaking at a Fabian Society conference on 'The Next Decade' in January 2007, he stressed education, international development, narrowing inequalities (to pursue 'equality of opportunity and fairness of outcome'), renewing Britishness, restoring trust in politics, and winning hearts and minds in the war on terror as key priorities.[54]

Prime Minister

Main article: Premiership of Gordon Brown

Brown ceased to be Chancellor and, upon the approval of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 27 June 2007.[4] Like all modern Prime Ministers, Brown concurrently serves as the First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service, and is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and, hence, also a Privy Counsellor. He is also Leader of the Labour Party and Member of Parliament for the constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. He is the sixth post-war prime minister, of a total of 12, to assume the role without having won a general election.[55] Brown is the first prime minister from a Scottish constituency since the Conservative/SUP Sir Alec Douglas-Home in 1964. He is also one of only five prime ministers who attended a university other than Oxford or Cambridge, along with the Earl of Bute (Leiden), Lord John Russell (Edinburgh), Andrew Bonar Law (University of Glasgow), and Neville Chamberlain (Mason Science College, later Birmingham).[56] Brown has proposed moving some traditional prime ministerial powers conferred by royal prerogative to the realm of Parliament, such as the power to declare war and approve appointments to senior positions. Brown wants Parliament to gain the right to ratify treaties and have more oversight into the intelligence services. He has also proposed moving some powers from Parliament to citizens, including the right to form "citizens' juries", easily petition Parliament for new laws, and rally outside Westminster. He has asserted that the attorney general should not have the right to decide whether to prosecute in individual cases, such as in the loans for peerages scandal.[57]

During his Labour leadership campaign Brown proposed some policy initiatives which he called 'The manifesto for change.'[58][59] The manifesto included a clampdown on corruption and a new Ministerial Code, which set out clear standards of behaviour for ministers.[60] Brown also stated in a speech when announcing his bid that he wants a "better constitution" that is "clear about the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen in Britain today". He plans to set up an all-party convention to look at new powers for Parliament. This convention may also look at rebalancing powers between Whitehall and local government. Brown has said he will give Parliament the final say on whether British troops are sent into action in future. Brown said he wants to release more land and ease access to ownership with shared equity schemes. He backed a proposal to build new eco-towns, each housing between 10,000 and 20,000 home-owners — up to 100,000 new homes in total. Brown also said he wanted to have doctors' surgeries open at the weekends, and GPs on call in the evenings. Doctors were given the right of opting out of out-of-hours care in 2007, under a controversial pay deal, signed by then-Health Secretary John Reid, which awarded them a 22% pay rise in 2006. Brown also stated in the manifesto that the NHS was his top priority. There was speculation during September and early October 2007 about whether Brown would call a snap general election. Brown announced that there would be no election in the near future and seemed to rule out an election in 2008. His political opponents accused him of being indecisive, which Brown denied.[61] In July of 2008 Brown supported a new bill extending this pre-charge detention period to 42 days. The bill was met with opposition on both sides of the House and backbench rebellion. In the end the bill passed by just 9 votes.[62] The House of Lords defeated the bill, with Lords characterising it as "fatally flawed, ill thought through and unnecessary", stating that "it seeks to further erode fundamental legal and civil rights".[63]

Brown was mentioned by the press in the expenses crisis for claiming for the payment of his cleaner. However, no wrongdoing was found and the Commons Authority did not pursue Brown over the claim. Meanwhile, the Commons Fees Office stated that a double payment for a £153 plumbing repair bill was a mistake on their part and that Brown had repaid it in full.[64][65]

Foreign policy

Gordon Brown and George W. Bush walk together, flanked on either side by two rows of saluting sailors. In the background is a U.S. military helicopter
Brown with then-U.S. President George W. Bush


Brown was committed to the Iraq War, but said in a speech in June 2007 that he would "learn the lessons" from the mistakes made in Iraq.[66] Brown said in a letter published 17 March 2008 that the United Kingdom will hold an inquiry into the Iraq war [67] Brown skipped the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, on 8 August 2008 in Beijing. He attended the closing ceremony instead, on 24 August 2008. Brown had been under intense pressure from human rights campaigners to send a message to China, concerning the 2008 Tibetan unrest. His decision not to attend the opening ceremony was not an act of protest, rather made several weeks in advance and not intended as a stand on principle.[68] In November 2007 Brown was accused by some senior military figures of not adhering to the 'military covenant', a convention within British politics stating that in exchange for them putting their lives at risk for the sake of national security, the armed forces should in turn be suitably looked after by the government.[69]

In a speech in July 2007 Brown personally clarified his position regarding Britain's relationship with the USA [70] "We will not allow people to separate us from the United States of America in dealing with the common challenges that we face around the world. I think people have got to remember that the relationship between Britain and America and between a British prime minister and an American president is built on the things that we share, the same enduring values about the importance of liberty, opportunity, the dignity of the individual. I will continue to work, as Tony Blair did, very closely with the American administration."

Brown and the Labour party had pledged to allow a referendum on the EU Treaty of Lisbon. On the morning of 13 December 2007, Foreign Secretary David Miliband attended for the Prime Minister at the official signing ceremony in Lisbon of the EU Reform Treaty. Brown's opponents on both sides of the House, and in the press, suggested that ratification by Parliament was not enough and that a referendum should also be held. Labour's 2005 manifesto had pledged to give British public a referendum on the original EU Constitution.[71][72] Brown argued that the Treaty significantly differed from the Constitution, and as such did not require a referendum. He also responded with plans for a lengthy debate on the topic, and stated that he believed the document to be too complex to be decided by referendum.[73]

Plots against leadership

In the summer of 2008, Brown's leadership was presented with a challenge as some MPs openly called for him to resign. This event was dubbed the 'Lancashire Plot', as two backbenchers from North West England urged him to step down and a third questioned his chances of holding on to the Labour Party leadership. Several MPs argued that if Brown did not recover in the polls by early 2009, he should call for a leadership contest. However, certain prominent MPs, such as Jacqui Smith and Bill Rammell, suggested that Brown was the right person to lead Britain through its economic crisis.[74] In the Autumn, Siobhain McDonagh, a MP and junior goverment whip, who during her time in office had never voted against the government,[75] spoke of the need for discussion over Brown's position. McDonagh was sacked from her role shortly afterwards, on September 12. Whilst McDonagh did not state that she wanted Brown deposed, she implored the Labour party to hold a leadership election, she was sacked from her role shortly afterwards.[76] McDonagh was supported by Joan Ryan (who applied, as McDonagh had, for leadership nomination papers, and became the second rebel to be fired from her job), Jim Dowd, Greg Pope, and a string of others who had previously held positions in government, made clear their desire for a contest.[77] In the face of this speculation over Brown's future, his ministers backed him to lead the party, and Harriet Harman and David Miliband denied that they were preparing leadership bids. After Labour lost the Glasgow East by-election in July, Harman, the deputy leader of the party, said that Brown was the "solution", not the "problem"; Home Secretary Smith, Justice Secretary Jack Straw, Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Cabinet Office Minister Ed Miliband all re-affirmed their support for Brown.[78] The deputy Prime Minister under Blair, John Prescott, also pledged his support.[79] Foreign Secretary David Miliband then denied that he was plotting a leadership bid, when on July 30, an article written by him in The Guardian was interpreted by a large number in the media as an attempt to undermine Brown. In the article, Miliband outlined the party's future, but neglected to mention the Prime Minister. Miliband, responded to this by saying that he was confident Brown could lead Labour to victory in the next general election, and that his article was an attack against the fatalism in the party since the loss of Glasgow-East.[80] Miliband continued to show his support for Brown in the face of the challenge that emerged in September, as did Business Secretary John Hutton, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, and Chief Whip Geoff Hoon.[81]

By Elections and 2009 Local and European Elections

Gordon Brown shakes hands with Vladimir Putin
Gordon Brown meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2006

In the local elections on 1 May 2008, Labour suffered their worst results in 40 years finishing in third place with a projected 24% share of the national vote.[82] Subsequently the party has seen the loss of by-elections in Nantwich and Crewe and Henley as well as slumps in the polls. A by election in Glasgow East triggered by the resignation of David Marshall saw the Labour party struggle to appoint a candidate, eventually settling for Margaret Curran, a sitting MSP in the Scottish Parliament. The SNP, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have all derided the party for their disorganised nature with Alex Salmond commenting "This is their 'lost weekend' - they don't have a leader in Scotland, they don't have a candidate in Glasgow East, and they have a prime minister who refuses to come to the constituency".[83] Labour lost the constituency to the Scottish National Party's John Mason who took 11,277 votes with Labour just 365 behind. The seat experienced a swing of 22.54%.[84]

In the European elections Labour polled 16% of the vote, finishing in third place behind the Conservatives and UKIP.[85] Voter apathy was reflected in the historically low turnout of around thirty three percent. In Scotland voter turnout was only twenty eight per cent. In the local elections, Labour polled 23% of the vote, finishing in third place behind Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, with Labour losing control of the four councils it had held prior to the election.[86] In a vote widely considered to be a reaction to the expenses scandal, the share of the votes was down for all the major parties; Labour was down one percent, the Conservative share was down five percent. The beneficiary of the public backlash was generally seen to be the minor parties, including the Green party and UKIP. These results were Labour's worst since World War II. Gordon Brown was quoted in the press as having said that the results were "a painful defeat for Labour", and that "too many good people doing so much good for their communities and their constituencies have lost through no fault of their own."[11][87]

Depictions in popular culture

In keeping with its tradition of having a comic strip for every Prime Minister Private Eye features a comic strip, The Broonites (itself a parody of The Broons), parodying Brown's government. Private Eye has also started a column titled Prime Ministerial Decree,[88] a parody of statements that would be issued by Communist governments in the former Eastern Bloc.[89]

Brown was also depicted in Season 13 of South Park when world leaders plot to steal money from aliens in order to deal with the global recession, in the episode "Pinewood Derby".[90] He also makes an appearance in the first issue of Marvel Comics' Captain Britain and MI: 13, overseeing Britain's response to the Skrull invasion of Earth.[91]

Personal life and family

Brown's early girlfriends included the journalist Sheena McDonald and Princess Margarita, the eldest daughter of exiled King Michael of Romania.[27] Brown married Sarah Macaulay in a private ceremony at his home in North Queensferry, Fife, on 3 August 2000.[92] They have two children, John Macaulay[93] and James Fraser. In November 2006, James Fraser was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.[94] On 28 December 2001 a daughter, Jennifer Jane, was born prematurely and died on 8 January 2002. Gordon Brown commented at the time that their recent experiences had changed him and his wife. Sarah Brown generally keeps a low profile, rarely making official appearances either with or without her husband. She is inevitably much sought after to give interviews, although is reluctant to do so.[95] She is, however, patron of several charities and has written articles for national newspapers related to this.[96] At the 2008 Labour Party Conference Mrs Brown caused surprise by taking to the stage to introduce her husband for his keynote address.[97]

He has two brothers, John Brown and Andrew Brown. Andrew has been Head of Media Relations in the UK for the French-owned utility company EDF Energy since 2004.[98] The Browns spend some of their spare time at Chequers, the house often being filled with friends. They have also entertained local dignitaries like Sir Leonard Figg.[99] Brown is also a friend of Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, who says of Brown "I know him as affable, funny and gregarious, a great listener, a kind and loyal friend."[100]

Titles, honours and awards

Until 1982 Gordon Brown was formally known as "Mr. James Gordon Brown". Upon completing his PhD[2] he was called "Dr. James Gordon Brown". In 1983 he was elected to parliament as MP for Dunfermline East[101] and was styled "Dr. James Gordon Brown MP". Since being appointed to the Cabinet in 1997 (and hence becoming a member of the Privy Council) he has been known formally as The Rt Hon Dr. James Gordon Brown MP. In common with other former and current members of the Cabinet he will retain the "Rt Hon" prefix for life, unless he chooses to resign from the Privy Council.

In March of 2009 Brown was named World Statesman of the Year by a US foundation dedicated to promoting peace, human rights and understanding between religious faiths. The award, from the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, recognised the prime minister's role in leading the international community towards a solution to the global economic crisis.[102]

See also

Electoral history:

References

Notes

  1. ^ MacLeod, Catherine (2007-08-14). "Brown to work from home". The Herald. Newsquest. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  2. ^ a b Kearney, Martha (14 March 2005). "Brown seeks out 'British values'". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  3. ^ "The Gordon Brown story". BBC News. BBC. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  4. ^ a b "Brown is UK's new prime minister". BBC News. BBC. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  5. ^ "Gordon Brown". BBC News. BBC. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  6. ^ "Memorandum of Understanding between HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority" (PDF). HM Treasury, Bank of England, FSA. 1997. Retrieved 2009-07-16.
  7. ^ Halligan, Liam (2006-10-16). "Brown's raid on pensions costs Britain £100 billion". Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  8. ^ "Pension blame falls on Brown". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  9. ^ "Q&A: 10p tax rate cut". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  10. ^ "New British PM gives party biggest poll lead in two years". The Philippine Star. {{cite web}}: Text "2007-07-15" ignored (help); Text "2009-07-19" ignored (help); Text "access date" ignored (help); Text "publish date" ignored (help)
  11. ^ a b "Labour suffers wipeout in its worst local election results". The Times. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  12. ^ Labour slumps to historic defeat, BBC News, 8 June 2009
  13. ^ "Brown wins support from Labour MPs, fights on". reuters. Retrieved 2009-07-15. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "From education to politics: always top of the class". The Dundee Courier. 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2007-07-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) See also: "Famous Folk". Kirkcaldy Civic Society. Retrieved 2009-06-21. Though media have occasionally given his place of birth as Giffnock, Renfrewshire, where his parents were living at the time. "Family detective". The Daily Telegraph. 2007-04-28. Retrieved 2007-07-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) See also: "What can we expect from a Brown premiership?". ITV News. 2007-06-27. Retrieved 2009-06-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Chancellor's daughter remembered at christening service". The Scotsman. 2004-04-23. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  16. ^ "Brown mourns loss of mother". The Scotsman. 2004-09-20. Retrieved 2007-09-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "Family detective".
  18. ^ "From a Scottish manse to Number 10". The Washington Times. 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-09-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ "Chancellor on the ropes; Profile: Gordon Brown". The Independent (London). 2000-09-23. Retrieved 2009-06-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Ben Macintyre (19 May 2007). "'Cruel' experiment that left its mark on a very precocious boy". The Times. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
  21. ^ a b Mackenzie, Suzie (2004-09-25). "Will he? Won't he?". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  22. ^ a b c d ""Biography of the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury"". Retrieved 2009-06-21. See also: Iain MacLean, Alistair MacMillan (2005). "State of the Union: Unionism and the Alternatives in the United Kingdom". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  23. ^ Brown's first taste of power BBC News 15 July 2005
  24. ^ "Life on the ante-eurodiluvian Left". the guardian. {{cite web}}: Text "publish date-2000-10-05" ignored (help); Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Brown's Journey from Reformism to Neoliberalism" John Newsinger International Socialism 115 (summer 2007)
  26. ^ politics.co.uk: Gordon Brown's TUC speech in full (to the 2007 TUC Congress)
  27. ^ a b The Gordon Brown Story BBC News
  28. ^ Wright, Kenyon (1999-04-04). "Scotland can sing a new song to a different tune and in a clear voice". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 2008-03-01. ... the Claim of Right of Scotland. I have it before me now as I write — a note of sadness as I see that the first two signatures, side by side, are those of the late John Smith MP and myself, a note of gratified surprise to see these closely followed by the autographs of Gordon Brown, Robin Cook, George Robertson, Donald Dewar, Malcolm Bruce, Jim Wallace and, more important, an impressive cross-section of Scotland's civil society.
  29. ^ White, Michael (2003-06-06). "The guarantee which came to dominate new Labour politics for a decade". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2008-03-01. See also: Mayer, Catherine (2005-01-16). "Fight Club". Time. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  30. ^ Wheeler, Brian (2007-05-10). "The Tony Blair story". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  31. ^ National Statistics Online
  32. ^ National Statistics Online
  33. ^ "The Guardian 2005 election results for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath".
  34. ^ "Five years on: Rating the MPC, ''BBC News'', 6 June 2002". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  35. ^ "News Release". Archive.treasury.gov.uk. 1997-05-06. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  36. ^ "Gordon Brown and Treasury accused on banking crisis". times online. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |publish date= ignored (help)
  37. ^ More get tax credit overpayments BBC News, 31 May 2006
  38. ^ The impact of tax and benefit changes between April 2000 and April 2003 on parents' labour supply Blundell, R., M. Brewer and A. Shepherd, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Briefing Note No. 52, 2004
  39. ^ Glover, Julian (2000-09-29). "The five tests". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  40. ^ UK 'not yet ready for the euro' BBC, 9 June 2003
  41. ^ "Goldfinger Brown's £2 billion blunder in the bullion market". times online. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |publish date= ignored (help)
  42. ^ "Gordon Brown answers your questions". BBC News. BBC. 1999-06-15. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  43. ^ Adam, S. and J. Browne: Template:PDFlink (Google cache HTML), Institute for Fiscal Studies, Briefing note No. 9, March 2006
  44. ^ Grice, Andrew (4 April 2008). "Brown faces revolt over scrapping 10p income tax band". The Independent. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
  45. ^ Isabel Oakeshott and David Leppard (20 April 2008). "Gordon Brown cornered as rebellion over 10p tax reform grows". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  46. ^ OECD: General Government Outlays as percentage of GDP (Microsoft Office Excel table)
  47. ^ Halligan, Liam (2006-10-16). "Brown's raid on pensions costs Britain £100 billion". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  48. ^ "Oxford 'reject' wins Harvard scholarship". BBC News. BBC. 2000-05-22. Retrieved 2007-03-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  49. ^ "Peers condemn Oxford attack". BBC News. BBC. 2000-06-15. Retrieved 2007-03-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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Works

Biographies

Others

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by Rector of the University of Edinburgh
1973–1976 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Dunfermline East (1983–2005)
1983–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
1992–1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Exchequer
1997–2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
2007–present 		Incumbent
Minister for the Civil Service
2007–present
First Lord of the Treasury
2007–present
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Labour Party
2007–present 		Incumbent
Order of precedence in England and Wales
Preceded byas Lord Chancellor Gentlemen
as Prime Minister 		Succeeded byas Speaker of the House of Commons
Order of precedence Scotland and Northern Ireland
Preceded byas Archbishop of York Gentlemen
as Prime Minister 		Succeeded byas Speaker of the House of Commons

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