Gordon Brown
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- This article is about the British Chancellor of the Exchequer. For the rugby union player of the same name, see Gordon Brown (rugby player).
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Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
| Predecessor(s) | Kenneth Clarke |
|---|---|
| Successor(s) | Incumbent |
| Born | February 20, 1951 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Political party | Labour Party |
| Constituency | Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath |
| Spouse | Sarah Macaulay |
James Gordon Brown, Ph.D (born 20 February 1951) is Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom and a Scottish Labour Party politician. He was MP for Dunfermline East from 1983 - 2005, then Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2005 following a reorganisation of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland. Brown has headed HM Treasury since May 1997, making him the longest continuously serving Chancellor since Nicholas Vansittart (1812-1823). He is regarded as the second most powerful member of the present British government and is widely expected to assume the leadership of the Labour Party, and therefore to become Prime Minister, before the end of the present parliament.
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Early and private life
His father, John, was a Church of Scotland minister. While at Kirkcaldy High School he enjoyed selective education, being picked in a small group of able students who were intensively tutored. Brown prospered, and entered University of Edinburgh aged 16. He had suffered a detached retina in a rugby accident, leaving him blind in his left eye[1] . Brown read History at Edinburgh, graduating with First Class Honours. Brown would stay at Edinburgh to complete his Doctorate, 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 Labour 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]".
Before entering Parliament and while still a student, Brown had been elected Rector[2] of the University of Edinburgh and Chairman of the University Court, and edited "The Red Paper on Scotland"[3] . Brown lectured at that university and then at Glasgow College of Technology before working as a journalist at Scottish Television. In the 1979 general election, Brown fought the Edinburgh South constituency, but lost to the Conservative candidate, Michael Ancram. In 1986, he published a biography of the Independent Labour Party politician James Maxton, the subject of his PhD thesis.
Brown married Sarah Macaulay at his home in North Queensferry, Fife, on 3 August 2000 after a four-year courtship. Mrs. Brown is a public relations executive and was, until 2001, Chief Executive of Hobsbawm Macaulay, the consultancy firm she owned with Julia Hobsbawm. On 28 December 2001, a daughter, Jennifer Jane, was born prematurely; she died on 8 January 2002. Their second child, a son, John, was born on 17 October 2003. In January 2006 it was announced that they were expecting a third child in July.
Brown is a Raith Rovers F.C. supporter - a team he has supported since childhood - and he is a member of the consortium which led a community buy out of the club in December 2005.
Brown's brothers are John Brown, Head of Public Relations, Glasgow City Council and Andrew Brown, a PR consultant for the French owned utility company EDF Energy, which is involved in Nuclear Power
Early Parliamentary career
He was elected to Parliament as a Labour MP for Dunfermline East in 1983, becoming opposition spokesman on Trade and Industry in 1985, then Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, before becoming Shadow Chancellor in 1992.
After the sudden death of John Smith, Brown was tipped as a potential party leader, but he stepped aside and allowed Tony Blair to become leader. It has long been rumoured that a deal was struck between the two men at the Granita restaurant in Islington, that Blair promised to give Brown complete control of economic policy in return for Brown not standing against him in the 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 by and large remained united in public despite reported rifts.
As Shadow Chancellor, Brown worked hard to establish an image of fiscal competence, and to reassure business and the middle class that Labour could be trusted to run the economy without fuelling inflation. He also committed Labour to following the Conservatives' spending plans for the first two years after taking power; his 2000 Spending Review foreshadowed a large expansion of government spending.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
It is widely held in the British media that Gordon Brown was appointed Chancellor as the result of a power brokerage agreement with Tony Blair. Gordon Brown has no economic training - His educational background is in politics. On taking office as Chancellor, Brown sprang a surprise by giving the Bank of England operational independence in the conduct of monetary policy, and thus responsibility for setting interest rates - a policy devised by Ed Balls, his long-time chief economic adviser and now an MP and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. Tory MPs had previously mentioned this idea in Parliament. While he has adhered to Labour's election pledge to make no increases to the standard or higher rates of income tax, he has raised taxes in other areas like consumption. In his April 2002 budget, he raised national insurance to pay for health spending, a tax on income separate from personal income tax. His other crackdowns on 'tax loopholes' has raised the UK tax burden from 39.3% of GDP in 1997 to 42.4% in 2006, according to the OECD, overtaking Germany. [4] . To have achieved this result with only one explicit tax rise has fuelled accusations of his imposing stealth taxes.[5] Brown points to two accomplishments: growth and employment. An OECD report[6] shows that, between 1997 and 2006, UK economic growth has averaged 2.7% - higher than the Eurozone's 2.1% but lower than any other English-speaking country. UK unemployment is 5.1%, down from 7% in 1997 and lower than the Eurozone's 8.1%.
One cornerstone of Brown's chancellorship has been a complicated system of "tax credits", one of several ideas imported from former US president Bill Clinton whereby welfare payments are accounted for as negative taxation. It involves a lengthy means-tested application form, separate to the normal tax return. This has proved problematic, and in 2004 and 2005 the system has been abused to the extent that £2bn has been lost in each of those years.
In 2001 Brown sold 60% of the UK's gold reserves at $275 an ounce.[7] It was later attacked as a "disastrous foray into international asset management" [8] 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[9] He pressured the IMF to do the same [1], but it resisted.
In October 1997, he took control of the United Kingdom's membership of the European single currency issue by announcing the Treasury would set five economic tests [10] to ascertain whether the economic case had been made. In June 2003 the Treasury indicated that the tests had not been met. [11]
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). As he has commented upon on several occasions, his Chancellorship has overseen the longest period of sustained economic growth in the UK which started in 1993 on the United Kingdom's exit from the Exchange Rate Mechanism.
In October 2004 Tony Blair announced he would not lead the party into a fourth general election, but would serve out a full third term. Brown has for some time promoted the cause of acting to reduce Third World debt and following the Asian Tsunami Disaster this has positioned Brown well inside the curve of popular opinion in the UK. Political controversy over the relationship between Brown and Blair in advance of the prospective UK general election, 2005 continued up to that election, when Blair won a reduced majority, a reduced vote share for the Labour Party, and then confirmed that he would not fight the next general election.
Ahead of the 2005 general election, the two campaigned together seeking to bury their disagreement. But the British media remains full of reports about the acrimony between the two.
Prospects of succeeding Blair
In 2005, Brown was listed in Time Magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Tony Blair was not included. This could be attributed to the widespread expectation that Brown has no serious rivals for the position as the next Prime Minister.
This coverage, and recent appearances, have been interpreted as preparing the ground for Gordon Brown to become Prime Minister by furthering the impression of him to be of 'statesman material' - and to replace his Scottish identity with a British one in the public mind. After the UK Local Government elections in May 2006, where Labour lost 2 in 5 of their previously controlled councils, Brown has been seen to use the failure of the Labour Party to advance his own cause in preparation for leadership. Blair has stated he will step down before the next election and said he will give ample time for his 'successor'. Brown remains the only candidate spoken of seriously in Westminster. The Labour defeat in the Dunfermline and West Fife 2006 by-election, after a campaign largely led by Brown -covering the constituency in which he lives - does however, cast doubt on his ability to win elections without Blair wooing the middle classes.
Evidence of Blair's intention to stay as Prime Minister came with news that the Blairs had rented out their "retirement home" in London's Connaught Square for a further year. After that, security renovations to the house were expected to take at least another 18 months. In the cabinet reshuffle the day after Labour's poor showing in the local elections, with the Home Office and deputy PM's private life in disarray, Blair was seen to demote former Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, and former Foreign Minister Jack Straw for 'being too close to Gordon Brown' [10]. The reshuffle was soon dubbed 'Night of the Long Knives', likened to Harold MacMillan's 1962 Night of the Long Knives'], where seven key cabinet members were disengaged in an effort to reclaim public support. At the expense of 'Brownites' Hoon and Straw, however, were 'Blairites' John Reid and Hazel Blears[11].
Following the reshuffle, Blair has come under intense pressure from many backbench MPs including former ministers, to name the date of his departure. He has refused to do this, arguing that it would 'paralyse' government. The stand-off illustrates a contrast between the parliamentary system of democracy, in which there is no theoretical limit to ministerial tenure and it is unusual for Prime Ministers to announce their date of departure in advance, and presidential systems which in which fixed terms and often term limits are the norm.
Dramatisation
Gordon Brown was played by David Morrissey in the Stephen Frears directed TV movie The Deal.
Notes
- Gordon Brown as Rector at Edinburgh University
- BBC News
- Boston Globe - Brown's views on global warming
- 2005 election results page for Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath
- Labour lose in Brown's home constituency?
References
- ^ Will he? Won't he?, The Guardian, 26 September, 2004
- ^ Brown's first taste of power BBC News 15 July 2005
- ^ About The Red Paper on Scotland Red Paper on Scotland website.
- ^ General Government Outlays as percentage of GDP OECD
- ^ [citation needed]
- ^ OECD Economic Outlook No. 78 Annex Tables - Table of Contents OECD
- ^ [citation needed]
- ^ Brown's gold sale losses pile up as bullion price surges Scotsman.com website 28 November 2005
- ^ Fury over the great gold sale, opinion piece by Alex Brummer, Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee website.
- ^ The five tests The Guardian 29 September 2000
- ^ UK 'not yet ready for the euro' BBC, 9 June 2003
Works
- Brown, Gordon (ed.); Wright, Tony (ed.) (1995). Values, Visions and Voices: An Anthology of Socialism. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1851587314.
- Brown, Gordon (1989). Where There's Greed: Margaret Thatcher and the Betrayal of Britain's Future. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1851582282.
- Brown, Gordon (ed.); Cook, Robin (ed.) (1987). Scotland: The Real Divide - Poverty and Deprivation in Scotland. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 0906391180.
- Brown, Gordon (1986). Maxton: A Biography. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1851580425.
Biographies
- Peston, Robert (2005). Brown's Britain: How Gordon Runs the Show. Short Books. ISBN 1904095674.
- Bower, Tom (2003). Gordon Brown. HarperCollins. ISBN 000717540X.
- Keegan, William (2003). The Prudence of Mr Gordon Brown. John Wiley. ISBN 0470846976.
- Naughtie, James (2001). The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage. Fourth Estate. ISBN 1841154733.
- Routledge, Paul (1998). Gordon Brown: The Biography. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684819546.
Others
- Rawnsley, Andrew (2001). Servants of the people: The inside story of New Labour. Penguin Books. ISBN 0140278508.
See also
- Blair Brown Deal
- 54th UK general election
- UK general election, 2005
- UK general election, 2001
- UK general election, 1997
- UK general election, 1992
- UK general election, 1987
- UK general election, 1983
External links
- HM Treasury - Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
- 10 Downing Street - Chancellor of the Exchequer, The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Gordon Brown MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Gordon Brown
- BBC News - Tour diary: Gordon Brown in Africa January 2005 trip about his 'Marshall plan for Africa'
- Open Directory Project - Gordon Brown directory category
| Preceded by: (none: constituency created) | Member of Parliament for Dunfermline East 1983–2005 | Succeeded by: (none: constituency abolished) |
| Preceded by: (none: constituency created) | Member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 2005–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by: Kenneth Clarke | Chancellor of the Exchequer 1997–present | Incumbent |
| G8 Finance Ministers |
|---|
| Jim Flaherty (Canada) | Thierry Breton (France) | Peer Steinbrück (Germany) | Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa (Italy) | Sadakazu Tanigaki (Japan) | Alexei Kudrin (Russia) | Gordon Brown (UK) | John W. Snow (USA) |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Brown, Gordon James |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brown, Gordon |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | British Labour politician; Chancellor of the Exchequer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 20, 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Glasgow, Scotland |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
