Gordon Brown A man with more of a reputation as a Rotweiller than a Poodle, Gordon Brown, Scottish born Chancellor of the Exchequer is, with the endorsement of outgoing prime minister Tony Blair, tipped to be the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as he formally announced his candidacy for the next leader of the Labour party. Gordon Brown was born one of three brothers on February 20th 1951 in Glasgow to John Brown, a Church of Scotland minister and his mother Elizabeth Brown, known as Bunty. Gordon’s early education was at Kirkcaldy High School where his academic abilities were recognized and he was placed in an academic fast stream. By the age of sixteen Gordon was offered a place at the University of Edinburgh to study history. Gordon graduated from university with a First Class Honours Degree and remained at the university to complete his doctorate, which was prophetically entitled, “The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland 1918-1929”. Little did he know at that time that he would have the chance to influence British politics in the next millennium and rise to the position of prime minister in waiting.
Before working as a journalist at Scottish Television Gordon was a lecturer at Glasgow College of Technology and in 1979 he took his first step into politics when he stood for Edinburgh South in the General Election, which he lost to the Conservative candidate, Michael Anchram. Finally in 1983 Gordon was elected to Parliament as a Labour MP for Dunfermline East and from there he became Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, before becoming Shadow Chancellor in 1992 while Margaret Thatcher’s government were in power. As with Tony Blair’s ascension to Prime Minister, following the sudden death of Labour leader John Smith in 1994, Gordon Brown was also catapulted into the limelight as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in waiting. He promised the country that should Labour win the next election he would follow the Conservative’s plans for spending for two years and then he would implement his own spending budget which would bring a close to the Conservative’s legacy of high interest rates, unemployment and inflation. Once in office Blair and Brown were seen in public as a dynamic duo bringing the promises of “New Labour” to fruition but behind the scenes there have often been reports and rumours of serious private rifts between the pair. One of Gordon’s first changes for the economy after taking office as Chancellor was to give independence to the Bank of England allowing it to reduce or increase interest rates at its own discretion rather than having it approved by the government.
Should Brown become Prime Minister he would be the first from Scotland since Alex Douglas Hume in 1964 and he would be one of the first not have attended Oxford or Cambridge University along with James Callaghan and John Major who were not university educated. As Prime Minister in waiting Gordon Brown has laid out his agenda as, to observe the importance of education, to have more involvement in 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. Until 2000 Gordon remained unmarried, but had several girlfriends including Sheena Macdonald, Marion Calder and Princess Margarita, the eldest daughter of exiled King Michael of Romania. But after a four year courtship with Sarah Macauley, the two were married at his home in North Queensferry, Fife Scotland in August of 2000. In December 2001 the couple had a baby girl who was born prematurely and died in early 2002. The couple were devastated and the country showed its respect to their grieving chancellor. Within two years the couple had another child, this time a baby boy, John, and in July 2006 another boy was born to the couple, James Fraser Brown. James was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in November of the same year. After a visit to Washington D.C. in early April 2007 where Gordon Brown met the U.S. president for the first time, Gordon said he "got on very well" with US President George W Bush. The talks are being interpreted as a sign of the US preparing to deal with Mr Brown as Tony Blair's successor. Gordon Brown has had a number of works published including “Maxton, The Politics of Nationalism and Devolution” and “Where There is Greed”. He has edited a number of books including John Smith: “Life and Soul of the Party and Values, Visions and Voices”. Outside of work, Mr Brown`s interests include football, tennis and film. ABB |
