Gordon Brown Biography, Bio, Profile, pictures, photos from Netglimse.com

James Gordon Brown became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 27 June, 2007. Like almost all previous Prime Ministers, Gordon 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.

Gordon Brown, MP, (born 20 February, 1951) is the 152nd and current 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. Gordon 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. Gordon 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).

Gordon Brown was born in Glasgow. His father, John Ebenezer Brown, was a Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) 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. As a student, Gordon Brown 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 Royal Infirmary the eye was saved, ensuring he did not go totally blind.

Gordon 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, Gordon Brown was elected Rector 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. Gordon 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, Gordon Brown stood for the Edinburgh South constituency, but lost to the Conservative candidate, Michael Ancram. 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. It has long been rumoured that a deal was struck between Blair and Brown at the Granita restaurant in Islington, in which Blair promised to give Gordon Brown control of economic policy in return for Brown not standing against him in the leadership election. 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. As Shadow Chancellor, Gordon 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.

Following a reorganisation of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland, Brown became MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath at the 2005 election. Gordon 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, 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. Gordon Brown resigned as Chancellor on 27 June 2007 to become Prime Minister.

On taking office as Chancellor, Gordon 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. Gordon Brown has pointed to two main accomplishments: growth and employment. An OECD report 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%, down from 7% in 1997 and lower than the Eurozone's average of 8.1%.

In October 1997, Gordon Brown took control of the United Kingdom's membership of the European single currency issue by announcing the Treasury would set five economic tests to ascertain whether the economic case had been made. In June 2003 the Treasury indicated the tests had not been passed. 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).

On taking office as Chancellor, Gordon 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. Gordon 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).

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. 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, Gordon 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 Gordon Brown's speech about Spence had been a "little Blitzkrieg in being an act of sudden unprovoked aggression".

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. 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.

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. Gordon 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. Gordon 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.

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". Gordon 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". 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.

His two brothers are both involved in public relations. His brother John Brown is Head of Public Relations for Glasgow City Council and his brother Andrew Brown was appointed Head of Media Relations in the UK for the French-owned utility company EDF Energy in September, 2003. Andrew Brown was previously Director of Media Strategy at the public relations firm Weber Shandwick from 2003-2006 and had previously worked in broadcasting, serving as Editor of Channel 4�s political programme, �Powerhouse�, from 1996 to 2003. He previously worked for the BBC in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gordon 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.