Gordon Brown

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The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP
Gordon Brown in 2004
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Incumbent
Assumed office  27 June 2007
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Tony Blair
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 2 May 1997 – 27 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Kenneth Clarke
Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Dunfermline East (1983-2005)
Incumbent
Assumed office  9 June 1983
Preceded by	New Constituency
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Majority	18,216 (43.6%)
Born	20 February 1951 (1951-02-20) (age 56) Glasgow, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Sarah Macaulay
Children	John and James
Residence	10 Downing Street
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Academic
Religion	Church of Scotland
Signature
Website	10 Downing Street

James Gordon Brown MP (born 20 February 1951) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, the current Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and the Leader of the Labour Party.^[1]

Brown was the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007, making him Britain's longest serving Chancellor since Nicholas Vansittart (1812–1823).

Contents 1 Early life and career before parliament 2 Election to parliament and opposition 3 Chancellor of the Exchequer 3.1 Bank of England Independence 3.2 Taxation and spending 3.3 Growth development and employment 3.4 Higher education 3.5 Anti-racism and popular culture 4 Run up to succeeding Blair 5 Bid for Labour Leadership 6 Brown as Prime Minister 6.1 Policies 7 Personal life 7.1 Early childhood 7.2 School – Kirkcaldy West and Kirkcaldy High 7.3 University of Edinburgh 7.4 Scottish Television and later life 7.5 Married life 7.6 Brothers and awards 8 Depictions of Brown in the media 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links

[edit] Early life and career before parliament

Brown was born in Glasgow. His father, John Ebenezer Brown, was a Church of Scotland minister. Gordon Brown was educated firstly at Kirkcaldy West Primary School, and then, between 1961 and 1967, at Kirkcaldy High School, where he performed well and was placed in an academic fast stream. He was accepted by the University of Edinburgh to study history at the age of 16, making him one of only four university educated Prime Ministers who did not attend Oxford or Cambridge ^[2]. As a student, he suffered a detached retina, after being kicked in the head during an end-of-term rugby match. 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. After undergoing experimental surgery at Edinburgh Infirmary the eye was saved, ensuring he did not go totally blind.^[3]

Brown graduated from Edinburgh with First Class Honours M.A. in 1972, and stayed on to complete his Ph.D. (which he gained in 1982), titled The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland 1918-29. According to biographer Tom Bower, Brown originally intended his thesis to cover the development of the Labour movement from the seventeenth century onwards, but evolved to more modestly describe "Labour's struggle to establish itself as the alternative to the Conservatives [in the early part of the 20th century]".

In 1972, while still a student, Brown was elected Rector^[4] of the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of the University Court. Brown served as Rector until 1975, and he also edited The Red Paper on Scotland.^[5] Brown served as a temporary lecturer at Edinburgh, before working as a lecturer in Politics at Glasgow College of Technology from 1976 to 1980. He then worked as a journalist at Scottish Television, later serving as current affairs editor until his election to parliament in 1983.

In the 1979 general election, Brown stood for the Edinburgh South constituency, but lost to the Conservative candidate, Michael Ancram.

[edit] Election to parliament and opposition

He was elected to Parliament on his second attempt as a Labour MP for Dunfermline East in 1983 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 Ph.D. 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.

After the sudden death of John Smith in May 1994, Brown was one of those tipped as a potential party leader.^[6] It has long been rumoured that a deal was struck between Blair and Brown at the Granita restaurant in Islington,^[7] in which Blair promised to give Brown control of economic policy in return for Brown not standing against him in the leadership election.^[8] 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.^[9]

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. He publicly committed Labour to following the Conservatives' spending plans for the first two years after taking power.^[10][11]

Following a reorganisation of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland, Brown became MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath at the 2005 election.^[12]

[edit] Chancellor of the Exchequer

Brown's lengthy period as Chancellor of the Exchequer has set several records. He is the longest-serving Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer (ahead of Denis Healey, who was Chancellor for 5 years and 2 months from 5 March 1974 to 4 May 1979). On 15 June 2004, he became the longest continuous serving Chancellor of the Exchequer since the Reform Act 1832, passing the figure of 7 years and 43 days set by David Lloyd George (1908–1915). However, William Gladstone was Chancellor for a total of 12 years and 4 months in the period from 1852 to 1882 (although not continuously). Brown has stated that his Chancellorship has seen the longest period of sustained economic growth in UK history,^[13][14] although part of this growth period started under the preceding Conservative government in 1993, and the details in Brown's growth figures have been challenged.^[15][16] Gordon Brown resigned as Chancellor on 27 June 2007 to become Prime Minister.

[edit] Bank of England Independence

On taking office as Chancellor, Brown gave the Bank of England operational independence in monetary policy and responsibility for setting interest rates. The Conservatives opposed this until 1999, as a prelude to the abolishment of sterling and entrance into the euro zone, while Bank of England independence had been a key platform of Liberal Democrat economic policy since the 1992 general election.

[edit] Taxation and spending

Brown adhered to Labour's 1997 election pledge of not increasing the basic or higher rates of income tax. He reduced the starting rate from 20% (pre-1997) to 10% (1999) before abolishing the starting rate in 2007, and reduced the basic rate from 23% (pre-1997) to 22% (2000) and then 20% (2007).^[17]

Brown has increased the tax thresholds in line with inflation, rather than earnings, which rise more quickly during periods of economic growth. This results in fiscal drag in which more taxpayers are drawn into the upper rates (e.g. in 2000-01 there were 2,880,000 higher-rate taxpayers, whereas in 2005-06 there were 3,160,000).^[17]

Corporation tax has fallen under Brown, from a main rate of 33% (pre-1997) to 30% (1999) and then 28% (2007), and from 24% to 19% for small businesses (although the lower rate is set to rise to 22% by 2010).^[17]

Once the two-year period of following the Conservative's spending plans was over, Brown's 2000 Spending Review outlined a major expansion of government spending, particularly on health and education. In his April 2002 budget, Brown raised national insurance to pay for health spending; this is a tax on income separate from personal income tax. Brown has changed tax policy in other ways, such as the working tax credits. This is one of several ideas borrowed from the US Clinton administration whereby welfare payments are accounted for as negative taxation. The separate means-testing process for tax credits has been criticised by some as bureaucratic, and in 2003-04 and 2004-05 problems in the system led to overpayments of £2.2bn and £1.8bn respectively.^[18] However, economic theory suggests that tax credits can strengthen work incentives for those at the margin between employment and unemployment, and the IFS has estimated that the reforms brought at least 50,000 single mothers into part-time work.^[19]

In practice Brown's policies have resulted in the poorest fifth of households comparatively paying more tax and receiving a lower share of benefits since Labour's election victory in 1997. The Centre for Policy Studies found that the poorest fifth of households, which accounted for 6.8% of all taxes in 1996-7, accounted for 6.9% of all taxes paid in 2004-5. Meanwhile, their share of state benefit payouts dropped from 28.1% to 27.1% over the same period.^[20]

According to the OECD UK taxation has increased from a 39.3% share of GDP in 1997 to 42.4% in 2006, going to a higher level than Germany.^[21] This increase has mainly been attributed to active government policy, and not simply to the growing economy. To have brought this about with only one explicit tax rise has led to accusations of Brown imposing stealth taxes. A commonly reported example resulted in 1997 from a technical change in the way that corporation tax is collected, the indirect effect of which was for the dividends on equity investments held within pensions to be taxed, thus lowering pension returns and allegedly contributing to the demise of some pension funds.^[22]

[edit] Growth development and employment

Brown has pointed to two main accomplishments: growth and employment. An OECD report^[23] shows UK economic growth has averaged 2.7% between 1997 and 2006, higher than the Eurozone's 2.1%, though lower than that of any other English-speaking country. UK unemployment is 5.5%,^[24] down from 7% in 1997 and lower than the Eurozone's average of 8.1%.

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^[25] to ascertain whether the economic case had been made. In June 2003 the Treasury indicated the tests had not been passed.^[26]

Between 1999 and 2002 Brown sold 60% of the UK's gold reserves at $275 an ounce.^[27] It was later attacked as a "disastrous foray into international asset management"^[28] as he had sold at close to a 20-year low. Prices went on to reach $700 an ounce in May 2006 – he could have raised £4bn for the public had he waited.^[29] He pressured the IMF to do the same,^[30] but it resisted.

Brown feels it appropriate to remove much of the unpayable Third World debt but does not feel that all debt should be wiped out.^[31]

On 20 April 2006, in a speech to the United Nations Ambassadors, Brown outlined a "Green" view of global development:

"... far from being at odds with each other, our economic objectives and our environmental objectives now increasingly reinforce each other. ... Environmental sustainability is not an option – it is a necessity. For economies to flourish, for global poverty to be banished, for the well-being of the world's people to be enhanced - not just in this generation but in succeeding generations - we have a compelling and ever more urgent duty of stewardship to take care of the natural environment and resources on which our economic activity and social fabric depends. ... A new paradigm that sees economic growth, social justice and environmental care advancing together can become the common sense of our age."^[32]

[edit] Higher education

In 2000, Brown started a major 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.^[33]

He described its decision not to offer a place to state school pupil Laura Spence as "absolutely outrageous" and implied that its decision was based on her background rather than her academic potential. This started a major and hotly argued row in the media in which Oxford strongly denied these accusations.

With his comments, Brown can arguably be credited with raising widening participation to Higher Education higher up the political agenda. However, at the same time, many of his opponents said that Brown's comments were ill founded, including Lord Jenkins (then Chancellor of the University of Oxford) who said that "nearly every fact he used was false," and that said Brown's speech about Spence had been a "little Blitzkrieg in being an act of sudden unprovoked aggression".^[34]

[edit] Anti-racism and popular culture

During a diplomatic visit to India in January 2007, Brown responded to questions concerning perceived racism and bullying against Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on the British reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother saying, "There is a lot of support for Shilpa. It is pretty clear we are getting the message across. Britain is a nation of tolerance and fairness."^[35] He later said that the debate showed that Britain wanted to be "defined by being a tolerant, fair and decent country."^[36]

The author J. K. Rowling is good friends with Gordon Brown and he is planning to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when it comes out during the initial weeks of his new administration. ^{[37] [38]}

[edit] Run up to succeeding Blair

In October 2004 Tony Blair announced he would not lead the party into a fourth general election, but would serve a full third term. Political controversy 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. The two campaigned together but the British media remained – and remain – full of reports on their mutual acrimony. Blair, under pressure from within his own party, announced on 7 September 2006 that he would step down within a year.^[39] Brown was the clear favourite to succeed Blair for several years with experts and the bookmakers; 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.

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 the few university-educated Prime Ministers not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge, along with the Earl of Bute (Leiden), Lord John Russell (Edinburgh) and Neville Chamberlain (Birmingham).^[40] Several Prime Ministers were not university-educated including Winston Churchill, James Callaghan and John Major.

On 9 September 2006 Charles Clarke in an interview in The Daily Telegraph said the Chancellor had "psychological" issues that he must confront and accused him of being a "control freak" and "totally uncollegiate". Brown was also "deluded", he said, to think that Blair can and should anoint him as his successor now.^[41]

By the start of 2007, prospects of any significant current or former Cabinet-level contender to Brown receded significantly, and Brown's odds with major bookmakers became as short as 1/10 on. A number of those tipped as potential rivals ruled themselves out – notably Education Secretary Alan Johnson, who declared he would contest the deputy leadership, and Environment Secretary David Miliband, who stressed his support for Brown^[42] to close down speculation of a possible challenge. Despite his disavowals, attempts to draft Miliband to run continued, with the launch of a website by former Ministers Alan Milburn and Charles Clarke, obstensibly to debate policy, but widely viewed as an attempt to test the water. However, this widely-covered initiative was also a seen as sign of weakness in that the project appeared to have no credible champion to carry the banner in a leadership contest. Only candidates from the left of the party, John McDonnell and former Environment minister Michael Meacher declared their willingness to contest the election; each needed to gain 44 nominations from Labour MPs required to be successfully nominated. Either would have been rank outsiders in a contest. With growing realisation that both could not be nominated and that both standing was likely to lead to neither being nominated, they agreed that when Blair stepped down they would compare nominations and the candidate with the lower number of nominations would withdrew and urge his supporters to nominate the other.

From January 2007 the media reported that Brown had now "dropped any pretence of not wanting, or expecting, to move into Number 10 in the next few months" – although he and his family will likely use the more spacious 11 Downing Street.^[43] This enabled Brown to signal the most significant priorities for his agenda as Prime Minister - stressing 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 - speaking at a Fabian Society conference on 'The Next Decade' in January 2007.^[44]

On the eve of the 2007 budget, Brown's character was attacked by Lord Turnbull who worked for Brown as Permanent Secretary at the Treasury from 1998 to 2002. Turnbull accused Brown of running the Treasury with "Stalinist ruthlessness" and treating Cabinet colleagues with "more or less complete contempt".^[45] This was especially picked up on by the British media as the comments by Turnbull were made on the eve of Brown's (expected to be last) budget report.

In his resignation speech on 10 May, Tony Blair made clear of his intention to stand down as Prime Minister on 27 June. ^[46] On the Wednesday following this announcement, it became clear that no other candidate would gain enough nominations to get on the ballot paper with Brown. He therefore formally became Leader of the Labour party at a special Party Conference held in Manchester on 24 June.

[edit] Bid for Labour Leadership

After months of speculation, Gordon Brown formally announced on 11 May 2007 his bid for the Labour leadership and replaced Tony Blair as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007. On Channel 4 news on 16 May 2007 it was announced that Andrew Mackinlay had nominated Brown giving him 308 nominations, sufficient to avoid a leadership contest.

Since Blair's announcement of his resignation and Brown's bid for leadership, the Labour Party has gained a bounce in the polls, gaining three points after months of low polls trailing behind the opposition, the Conservative Party.^[47]

Brown launched his campaign website the same day as formally announcing his bid for leadership "Gordon Brown for Britain".

[edit] Brown as Prime Minister

Main article: Premiership of Gordon Brown

Brown first became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 27 June 2007. Like almost all previous Prime Ministers, Brown concurrently serves as the First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service, 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.

[edit] Policies

Brown has been careful not to suggest that there will be any U-turns in the key areas of Blair's social policy, or any radical breakaway from New Labour. He has, however, proposed a different style of government than that of Blair's much-criticised 'presidential-style' government. He has proposed a few policy initiatives, with more expected to come during the course of the campaign. Brown hasn't been too clear on certain parts of his policies, but he has suggested that a Brown-led government would introduce the following^[48][49]:

• Socpa Brown intends to repeal sections 132 to 137 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, thereby enabling protest within the area around Parliament without prior permission from the Metropolitan Police.^[50]
• Sleaze-busting package Following the cash for honours scandal, Brown emphasised cracking down on sleaze. This has led to belief that Brown will introduce a new ministerial code that sets out clear standards of behaviour for ministers. He has said that he intends to strip Number 10 Downing Street of some of the powers conferred on it by royal prerogative, including the ability to declare war, thus giving the Parliament more powers and rights to vet and veto appointments to senior public positions, in a bid to crack down on cronyism.
• Constitutional reform Brown hasn't made it clear whether he proposes a US-style written constitution – something the UK has never had – or a looser bill of rights. He said 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 also said that he will give Parliament the final say on whether British troops are sent into action in future.
• Housing House Planning restrictions are likely to be relaxed. Brown has said that he wants to release more land and ease access to ownership with shared equity schemes. He backed a proposal to build five new eco-towns, each housing between 10,000 and 20,000 homeowners – up to 100,000 new homes in total.
• Health Brown intends to have doctors' surgeries open on the weekends, and GPs on call in the evenings. Doctors were given the right of opting out of out-of-hours care two years ago, under a controversial pay deal, signed by then-Health Secretary John Reid, that awarded them a 22 per cent pay rise in 2006.
• Foreign policy Brown remains committed to the Iraq War, but said in his speech on Friday that he would "learn the lessons" from the mistakes made in Iraq. He remains supportive of American policies, but has said that he wants a more "solid but not slavish" relationship with Washington.

Other:

• ID cards Brown’s campaign manager has hinted that one of Blair’s unpopular key policies will be reviewed. The cost of the £5.5 billion scheme is spiralling. However, Brown said on 12 May that he would press ahead with it.
• Europe Brown is not thought to be keen on Blair’s wish to sign up to a new European Union “mini-treaty” which can be imposed in the UK without the need for a referendum.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Early childhood

Brown's father, John, was a Church of Scotland minister for 40 years. He was a strong influence and died in 1998, aged 84. His mother Elizabeth, known as Bunty, died in 2004 aged 86.

Until Gordon was three, the family had lived in Glasgow, a city scarred by acute poverty and rising unemployment. The experience in Glasgow defined the social conscience of his father, Dr Brown, and, in turn, had a decisive impact on his son's philosophy. "Our father never told us which way he voted," says John Brown, "but you knew, because of the poverty that he had seen, that he leaned towards Labour." ^[51] However, curiously, Gordon was named after his mother Elizabeth's brother who was a member of the Conservative Party.

[edit] School – Kirkcaldy West and Kirkcaldy High

Gordon, John and Andrew Brown were brought up in the manse of St. Brycedale Kirk in Kirkcaldy, where they enjoyed, by comparison to other families, a relatively privileged existence. When Gordon was four he enrolled at Kirkcaldy West, the local primary school, where the pupils learnt to write on slate with slate pencils. Gordon excelled at sums and was set increasingly difficult tasks by his teacher, Aileen Mason. At 10, he joined Kirkcaldy High School, an ancient school with a new 1950s campus (The economist Adam Smith, the author of The Wealth of Nations, is also a former pupil). It was selective in its intake and its 1,200 pupils were given a "hothouse" education. At lunchtimes at Kirkcaldy High, he and his friend, Murray Elder, had debates on socialism with Miss Shaw, the librarian and a Tory.

When the time came to make money, he did so for a good cause. Gordon and his brother, John, founded The Gazette, whose proud boast was that it was Scotland's only newspaper sold in aid of African refugees. The 10-page paper, with a circulation of a few hundred, was produced on a duplicating machine, sold for three pence (later sixpence), and was inspired by one of their father's sermons. The Gazette became a vehicle for Brown's burgeoning political philosophy and provided the first glimpse of his now famous Presbyterian streak. For example, in April 1962, aged 11, he wrote an article about a church campaign in favour of television commercials against the twin demons of alcohol and tobacco. Brown concluded his piece with a typically opinionated flourish: "Let us hope that this plan will be a success and that the sale of drink and cigarettes to the younger and older generation will fall when these [commercials] against drink and cigarettes are shown." ^[51]

As its sports editor and, since he was a fanatical fan of Raith Rovers (then in the Scottish first division), the team dominated every back page. He sold programmes at half-time at the ground, Stark's Park, in return for a free ticket. These days, John Brown, aged four, has been spotted on his father Gordon's knee at Raith's home matches (Brown is also a member of the consortium which led a community buy-out of the club in December 2005).

By the age of 12, he had already helped with the Labour candidate's unsuccessful by-election campaign against Sir Alec Douglas-Home, pushing leaflets through the letter boxes in the nearby Kinross and Western Perthshire constituency [1]. While most of Gordon's schoolfriends cared little about the assassination of JFK, he was devastated. Kenn McLeod, 57, who followed him from Kirkcaldy High to Edinburgh, said: "Gordon saw him as the future and could not believe the future had been so brutally snuffed out. He was shocked and stunned. He kept saying, 'I cannot believe that this has happened'." ^[51]

At 14, he passed nine O-grades and just after his 15th birthday Gordon took his Highers, securing five grade As – including Maths, English, and History – that confirmed the young Brown's prodigious talent. Gordon was part of the E-stream – the E stood for early – which fast tracked the brightest 16-year-olds to university. At Kirkcaldy High School, he was a fearless member of the scrum – playing flanker – in the rugby team at 15, while the other boys were 17 and 18; he was a junior tennis champion and played the violia in the orchestra.

[edit] University of Edinburgh

At the University of Edinburgh, Brown took a first in history and wrote a doctoral thesis on the Labour socialist movement in Scotland. Bob Cuddihy, a colleague in student politics and a local television presenter, remembers: "Everybody was concerned about his eye. They would form a protective circle around him in the pub. There was always a queue of lasses, including my girlfriend, who were admirers. He had an energy, magnetism, and a terrific voice. I saw the power Gordon had to mesmerise people."^[51]

After editing the Student newspaper, in which he famously exposed the university's investments in pro-apartheid South Africa, he became the second ever student to hold the office of Rector, chairman of the University Court and second in importance only to the university's Chancellor, the Duke of Edinburgh. He was 21. His campaign was backed by an enthusiastic group of women known as the Brown Sugars, forerunners of the Blair Babes.

Brown was also very messy, even by student standards. One flatmate has commented: "He was oblivious to his domestic surroundings. But it was at least better than his first flat. When I visited that a few years earlier, I vowed never to go back. There should have been a bio-hazard sign on it. It was a slum." ^[51]

[edit] Scottish Television and later life

After university and a spell of teaching at Edinburgh and then at Glasgow College of Technology, he began work as a researcher at Scottish Television, where colleagues recall an impressive young man who did a mean impression of the fascist Oswald Mosley during a mock interview. But his heart was set on a career in politics. He first stood for an Edinburgh seat, with little hope of success, in the 1979 general election which swept Margaret Thatcher to power. He was then selected for the safe Labour seat of Dunfermline East in his family's backyard. When he announced his resignation to fight the seat in the 1983 general election, Bill Brown, the managing director of Scottish TV, declared himself unimpressed. He asked: "Can you tell me why we employed that young man?" Russell Galbraith, who was head of news and current affairs, replied: "Mark my words, one day we will be working for him." ^[51]

[edit] Married life

Previous girlfriends included the journalist Sheena McDonald, Marion Calder and Princess Margarita, the eldest daughter of exiled King Michael of Romania. She has said about their relationship: "It was a very solid and romantic story. I never stopped loving him but one day it didn't seem right any more, it was politics, politics, politics, and I needed nurturing."^[52]

Brown married Sarah Macaulay in a private ceremony at his home in North Queensferry, Fife, on 3 August 2000 after a four-year courtship. She is a public relations executive and was, until 2001, Chief Executive of Hobsbawm Macaulay, the consultancy firm she owned with Julia Hobsbawm (daughter of the notable Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm). They met when her company was advising the Labour-supporting New Statesman magazine in 1994 and the relationship blossomed alongside Labour's electoral success. 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:

"I don't think we'll be the same again, but it has made us think of what's important. It has made us think that you've got to use your time properly. It's made us more determined. Things that we feel are right we have got to achieve, we have got to do that. Jennifer is an inspiration to us." ^[53]

Their second child, John, was born on 17 October 2003. Their third child, a son, James Fraser, was born on 17 July 2006; it was reported on 29 November 2006 that he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Mrs Brown, unlike Cherie Blair QC, rarely appears at public events with her husband and until recently even missed his Budget speeches. She intends to remain out of the limelight as much as possible but accepts that her life will change when she moves into 10 Downing Street. However, to date, she has never given a magazine or television interview but is now inundated with requests to break her silence. She is unlikely to do so.^[54]

[edit] Brothers and awards

Of his two brothers, John Brown is Head of Public Relations in the Glasgow City Council, and Andrew Brown is Head of Media for the French-owned utility company EDF Energy.

Brown received honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh in 2003 and Newcastle University in 2007 (DCL). He received an Honorary Doctorate alongside Alan Greenspan from New York University in 2006.

[edit] Depictions of Brown in the media

Brown was played by David Morrissey in the Stephen Frears directed TV movie The Deal and by Peter Mullen in the TV movie The Trial of Tony Blair. In impression shows and in general, Brown is depicted as miserly, dour and humourless.

[edit] See also

• Blair-Brown deal
• Cabinet of the United Kingdom
• UK general elections: 1983, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2005, subsequent election
• Labour Party leadership election, 2007

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

Works:

• Brown, Gordon (2006); Speeches 1997-2006, edited by Wilf Stevenson. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-74758-837-6
• Brown, Gordon (ed.); Wright, Tony (ed.) (1995). Values, Visions and Voices: An Anthology of Socialism. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-85158-731-4.
• Brown, Gordon (1989). Where There's Greed: Margaret Thatcher and the Betrayal of Britain's Future. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-85158-228-2.
• Brown, Gordon (ed.); Cook, Robin (ed.) (1987). Scotland: The Real Divide - Poverty and Deprivation in Scotland. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 0-906391-18-0.
• Brown, Gordon (1986). Maxton: A Biography. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-85158-042-5.

Biographies:

• Bower, Tom (2003). Gordon Brown. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-717540-X.
• Brivati, Brian (2002). 'Gordon Brown' in Labour Forces, Jefferys, Kevin (ed). IB Taurus Publishing. ISBN 1-41751-633-X
• Keegan, William (2003). The Prudence of Mr Gordon Brown. John Wiley. ISBN 0-470-84697-6.
• Maguire, Kevin (2001). 'Gordon Brown' in Dictionary of Labour Biography, Rosen, Greg (ed). Politicos Publishing. ISBN 1-90230-118-8
• Naughtie, James (2001). The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage. Fourth Estate. ISBN 1-84115-473-3.
• Peston, Robert (2005). Brown's Britain: How Gordon Runs the Show. Short Books. ISBN 1-904095-67-4.
• Routledge, Paul (1998). Gordon Brown: The Biography. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81954-6.

Others:

• Pym, Hugh & Kochan, Nick (1998), Gordon Brown the First Year in Power, Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747537011.
• Rawnsley, Andrew (2001). Servants of the people: The inside story of New Labour. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-027850-8.
• Rosen, Greg (2005). Old Labour to New. Politicos Publishing. ISBN 1842750453
• Routledge, Paul (2003). Bumper Book of British Lefties. Politicos Publishing. ISBN 184275064X

[edit] External links

• Gordon Brown's leadership campaign website
• Gordon Brown's First Speech as Prime Minister 27 June 2007
• Audio and Transcript of Gordon Brown’s First Speech as Labour Party Leader 24 June 2007
• 10 Downing Street - Prime Minister: The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP
• HM Treasury - Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Special Report: Gordon Brown
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Gordon Brown
• BBC News - Gordon Brown in Africa January 2005 trip about his 'Marshall plan for Africa'
• Open Directory Project - Gordon Brown directory category
• Gordon Clown - Satirical blog covering Gordon Brown's activities
• Observer: How Gordon Brown become the most powerful Chancellor in history
• Gordon Brown 'The Socialist Challenge' Extracts from his introduction to 'The Red Paper on Scotland' (1975)

Parliament of the United Kingdom (1801–present)
Preceded by (new constituency)	Member of Parliament for Dunfermline East 1983–2005	Succeeded by (constituency abolished)
Preceded by (constituency created)	Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 2005 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Kenneth Clarke	Chancellor of the Exchequer 1997–2007	Succeeded by To be determined
Preceded by Tony Blair	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 2007–present	Incumbent
	Leader of the British Labour Party 2007–present
Order of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Most Revd. and Rt. Hon. the Archbishop of York	The Prime Minister United Kingdom Order of Precedence Gentlemen	Succeeded by The Rt. Hon. Mr. Michael Martin, MP, Speaker of the House of Commons