After nearly a quarter of a century as an MP in the House of Commons and ten years as the Iron Chancellor he finally succeeded Tony Blair in 2007 to become Prime Minister

Gordon Brown was born in Glasgow in1951 the second of three sons and grew up in Kirkcaldy in the Scottish county of Fife.

His parents John and Elizabeth played an important part in his life, particularly his father who was a Church of Scotland minister.

After school in Kirkcaldy he became at fifteen one of the youngest students at Edinburgh University. However he spent much of his first term recovering from an accident while playing rugby in which he lost the sight of one eye.

He left university with a First Class Honours Degree in history and spent some time working as a lecturer, television journalist and producer before turning full time to politics.

Palace of Westminster

In 1983 he fought and won the Dunfermline East seat with a majority of 11,000 sharing his first office in the Palace of Westminster (House of Commons) with future Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He was immediately seen as an intellectual heavyweight a man with deep roots in the Labour movement. By the early 1990’s his reputation had risen to such an extent that the Labour leader Neil Kinnock allowed him to stand in for Shadow Chancellor John Smith who had suffered his first heart attack.

In 1994 when John Smith by then party leader died of his second heart attack, a battle for the leadership developed between Brown and Blair. A deal, the details of which are still hotly contested was struck, Blair would get a clear run at the leadership and Brown if the party was elected would be given control over British economic policy as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1997 a Tony Blair led Labour Party swept to power in a landslide victory.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

For ten years Gordon Brown was Britain’s most successful Chancellor, a man astride the world stage. His image however was one of a dour Scotsman who always wore red ties to symbolise his socialist roots and despite advice from colleagues seemed reluctant to change.

In August 2000 he married Sarah MacAuley in a modest ceremony at his home in Fife, they honeymooned in Cape Cod.

PiggyBankKids

His wife now work with the children’s charity PiggyBankKids which supports the Jennifer Brown Research Facility set up in memory of their daughter who tragically died after a brain haemorrhage shortly, after being born.

The Brown’s now have two sons John and Fraser. The younger son Fraser was diagnosed in 2006 with cystic fibrosis.

Family life obviously agrees with him, he is more relaxed and outgoing, his wife’s influence has meant for example that the red ties have been replaced with pastel shades and he has presented a softer image to television audiences.

Prime Minister

He was finally elected to the ‘top job’ in 2007 but one wonder if his “Stalinist ruthlessness” has totally disappeared as he gets on with the job of running the country.