View source for Gordon Brown

{{Short description|Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CH}}
| image            = Gordon Brown (2008).jpg
| alt              = Official portrait of Gordon Brown as prime minister of the United Kingdom
| caption          = Official portrait, {{circa|2008}}
| office           = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]
| monarch          = [[Elizabeth II]]
| term_start       = 27 June 2007
| term_end         = 11 May 2010
| 1blankname       = {{nowrap|[[First Secretary of State|First Secretary]]}}
| 1namedata        = [[Peter Mandelson]] (2009–2010)
| predecessor      = [[Tony Blair]]
| successor        = [[David Cameron]]
| office1          = [[WHO Goodwill Ambassador|World Health Organization Ambassador for Global Health Financing]]
| term_start1      = 20 September 2021
| 1blankname1      = {{nowrap|Director-General}}
| 1namedata1       = [[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus]]
| predecessor1     = ''Office established''
| office2          = [[Special Envoy of the Secretary-General|United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education]]
| term_start2      = 13 July 2012
| 1blankname2      = {{nowrap|Secretary-General}}
| 1namedata2       = [[Ban Ki-moon]]<br />[[António Guterres]]
| predecessor2     = ''Office established''
| office3          = [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Leader of the Labour Party]]
| deputy3          = [[Harriet Harman]]
| 1blankname3      = 
| 1namedata3       = 
| term_start3      = 24 June 2007
| term_end3        = 11 May 2010
| predecessor3     = [[Tony Blair]]
| successor3       = [[Ed Miliband]]{{efn|Harriet Harman acted from 11 May to 25 September 2010}}
| office4          = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| primeminister4   = [[Tony Blair]]
| term_start4      = 2 May 1997
| term_end4        = 27 June 2007
| predecessor4     = [[Kenneth Clarke]]
| successor4       = [[Alistair Darling]]
{{collapsed infobox section begin
| last             = yes
| [[Shadow cabinet]] posts
| titlestyle       = border:1px dashed lightgrey}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| embed            = yes
| title            = Shadow Secretary of State
| subterm          = 1987–1989
| suboffice        = [[Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury|Chief Secretary to the Treasury]]
| subterm1         = 1989–1992
| suboffice1       = [[Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade|Trade and Industry]]
| subterm2         = 1992–1997
| suboffice2       = [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer|Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
| parliament5      = United Kingdom
| constituency_MP5 = [[Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (UK Parliament constituency)|Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath]]
| prior_term5      = [[Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency)|Dunfermline East]] (1983–2005)
| term_start5      = 9 June 1983
| term_end5        = 30 March 2015
| predecessor5     = ''Constituency established''
| successor5       = [[Roger Mullin]]
| birth_name       = James Gordon Brown
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|df=y|1951|02|20}}
| birth_place      = [[Giffnock]], [[Renfrewshire (historic)|Renfrewshire]], Scotland
| residence        = <!-- Only use for residences that come with the office. NOT for towns, cities, states, countries, etc. -->
| party            = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Sarah Macaulay]]|3 August 2000}}
| children         = 3
| education        = [[University of Edinburgh]] ([[Master of Arts (Scotland)|MA]], [[PhD]])
| website          = {{URL|gordonandsarahbrown.com}}
| signature        = Gordon Brown signature.svg
| module           = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Gordon Brown on education and infrastructure in the Middle East and North Africa.ogg|title=Gordon Brown's voice|type=speech|description=Brown on education and infrastructure in the Middle&nbsp;East and North&nbsp;Africa<br />Recorded 30 March 2015}}
}}
<!-- NOTE: please do not add the title "Dr" to his name: see [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies)#Academic titles]] -->
'''James Gordon Brown''' (born 20 February 1951) is a British<!-- Do not replace this with "Scottish". See WP:UKNATIONALS. --> politician who served as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] and [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Leader of the Labour Party]] from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] from 1997 to 2007 under [[Tony Blair]]. Brown was [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency)|Dunfermline East]] from 1983 to 2005 and for [[Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath]] from 2005 to 2015. He has served as [[Special Envoy of the Secretary-General|United Nations Special Envoy]] for Global Education since 2012,<ref name=UNSE/> and he was appointed as [[WHO Goodwill Ambassador|World Health Organization Ambassador]] for Global Health Financing in 2021.<ref name=WHOGA/>

A [[Doctor of Philosophy|doctoral graduate]], Brown studied history at the [[University of Edinburgh]]. He spent his early career as a lecturer at a [[further education]] college and as a television journalist. Brown was elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] at the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]] as the MP for Dunfermline East. He was appointed to [[Neil Kinnock]]'s [[Shadow Cabinet of Neil Kinnock|shadow cabinet]] in 1989 and was named [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]] by [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]] in 1992. Following Labour's victory in the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], Brown was appointed as chancellor, becoming the longest-serving in modern history. [[Chancellorship of Gordon Brown|Brown's time as chancellor]] was marked by major reform of Britain's monetary and fiscal policy architecture, transferring interest rate setting to the [[Bank of England]], extending the powers of the [[HM Treasury|Treasury]] to cover much domestic policy, and transferring banking supervision to the [[Financial Services Authority]]. Brown presided over the longest period of economic growth in British history.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/CP/Our_Society_Today/News_Articles_2005/economy.aspx?ComponentId=8723&SourcePageId=11412 |title=Budgeting for stable economic growth |website=www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528071333/http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/CP/Our_Society_Today/News_Articles_2005/economy.aspx?ComponentId=8723&SourcePageId=11412 |archive-date=28 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/17/uk.budget2005 | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=His record – 304 years and counting | first=Julian | last=Glover | date=17 March 2005 | access-date=28 April 2010 | archive-date=22 September 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070922223719/http://society.guardian.co.uk/publicfinances/story/0,,1439789,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref> He outlined [[five economic tests]], which resisted [[United Kingdom and the euro|the UK adopting the euro]]. Controversial moves included the abolition of [[advance corporation tax]] (ACT) relief in his first budget,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Halligan |first=Liam |date=16 October 2006 |title=Brown's raid on pensions costs Britain £100&nbsp;billion |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1531448/Brown's-raid-on-pensions-costs-Britain-andpound100-billion.html |url-status=dead |access-date=27 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209090341/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1531448/Brown%27s-raid-on-pensions-costs-Britain-andpound100-billion.html |archive-date=9 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Stewart |first=Heather |date=22 July 2002 |title=Pension blame falls on Brown |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2002/jul/22/money.politics |url-status=live |access-date=4 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206083603/http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2002/jul/22/money.politics |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> the [[1999–2002 sale of United Kingdom gold reserves|sale of UK gold reserves from 1999 to 2002]], and the removal in [[2007 United Kingdom budget|his final budget]] of the [[Starting rate of UK income tax|10% starting rate]] of income tax that he had introduced in [[1999 United Kingdom budget|the 1999 budget]].<ref name="10pence">{{Cite news |last=Dawar |first=Anil |date=21 April 2008 |title=Q&A: 10p tax rate cut |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/apr/21/economy.labour |url-status=live |access-date=4 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080425035530/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/21/economy.labour |archive-date=25 April 2008}}</ref>

Following Blair's resignation in 2007, Brown was elected unopposed to succeed him as prime minister and party leader. The party continued as New Labour, though Brown's style of government differed from Blair's. He remained committed to [[Special Relationship|close ties with the United States]] and to the [[Iraq War|war in Iraq]], although he established an [[Iraq Inquiry|inquiry into the reasons for Britain's participation]] in the conflict. [[Brown ministry|Brown's government]] introduced rescue packages to keep banks afloat during the [[2008 financial crisis]], and so [[United Kingdom national debt|national debt]] increased. The government took majority shareholdings in [[Northern Rock]] and [[Royal Bank of Scotland]], which had experienced severe financial difficulties, and injected public money into other banks. In 2008, Brown's government passed the world's first [[Climate Change Act 2008|Climate Change Act]], and he also introduced the [[Equality Act 2010]]. Despite poll rises just after Brown became prime minister, when he failed to call a [[snap election]] in 2007, his popularity fell and Labour's popularity declined with the [[Great Recession]].<ref>{{cite web |date=15 July 2007 |title=New British PM gives party biggest poll lead in two years |url=http://www.philstar.com/nation/6018/gma-vows-hunt-down-killers-marines-pursue-peace-talks-rebels |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317011420/http://www.philstar.com/nation/6018/gma-vows-hunt-down-killers-marines-pursue-peace-talks-rebels |archive-date=17 March 2014 |access-date=19 July 2009 |newspaper=[[The Philippine Star]]}}</ref><ref name="timesonline1">{{Cite news |last1=Sherman |first1=Jill |last2=Yeoman |first2=Fran |last3=Hamilton |first3=Fiona |date=6 June 2009 |title=Labour suffers wipeout in its worst local election results |work=[[The Times]] |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6440935.ece |access-date=21 June 2009 |archive-date=21 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321093134/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="labour">{{Cite news |date=8 June 2009 |title=Labour slumps to historic defeat |work=BBC News |location=London |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8088133.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610210245/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8088133.stm |archive-date=10 June 2009}}</ref> Labour lost 91 seats in the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], resulting in a [[hung parliament]] in which the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] won the most seats.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maddox |first=David |date=7 May 2010 |title=General Election 2010: Gordon's career is finished&nbsp;– Labour MP |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/general-election-2010-gordon-s-career-is-finished-labour-mp-1-803131 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021184357/http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/general-election-2010-gordon-s-career-is-finished-labour-mp-1-803131 |archive-date=21 October 2012 |access-date=3 December 2010 |work=The Scotsman |location=Edinburgh}}</ref> After the Conservatives formed [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|a coalition government]] with the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], Brown was succeeded as prime minister by Conservative leader [[David Cameron]], and as Labour leader by [[Ed Miliband]].

After leaving office, Brown returned to the [[Backbencher|backbenches]], continuing to serve as MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath until he gave up his seat in 2015. He has since made occasional political interventions and has published political-themed books.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 September 2014 |title=A reborn Gordon Brown could be the man who saved the union |first=Philip |last=Stephens|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/34866df6-3e85-11e4-adef-00144feabdc0.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921050233/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/34866df6-3e85-11e4-adef-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=21 September 2014 |access-date=19 September 2014 |website=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref> Brown played a prominent role in the campaign to maintain the union during the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum]], and he wrote a report on [[Devolution in the United Kingdom|devolution]] in 2022 for Labour leader [[Keir Starmer]].<ref name=":0" /> Brown has served as the United Nations [[Special Envoy of the Secretary-General|Special Envoy]] for Global Education, as well as the [[World Health Organization]]'s Ambassador for Global Health Financing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gordon Brown {{!}} The Office of Gordon & Sarah Brown |url=https://gordonandsarahbrown.com/gordon-brown/ |access-date=9 February 2023 |website=gordonandsarahbrown.com |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209191419/https://gordonandsarahbrown.com/gordon-brown/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He was awarded the [[Order of the Companions of Honour]] by [[Charles III|King Charles III]] in the [[2024 Birthday Honours]] for public and charitable services in the UK and abroad. As chancellor, Brown had high approval ratings; a poll of political scientists rated him the most successful post-war chancellor in terms of economic stability, working independently from the prime minister and leaving a lasting legacy on the [[British economy]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 July 2020 |title=Rishi Sunak is most popular chancellor since Gordon Brown |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rishi-sunak-most-popular-chancellor-gordon-brown-summer-budget-a9611971.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111094458/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rishi-sunak-most-popular-chancellor-gordon-brown-summer-budget-a9611971.html |archive-date=11 January 2023 |access-date=11 January 2023 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown Most Successful Chancellor, Say British Political Scientists |date=28 November 2006 |url=https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/brown-most-successful-chancellor-say-british-political-scientists |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111094501/https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/brown-most-successful-chancellor-say-british-political-scientists |archive-date=11 January 2023 |access-date=11 January 2023}}</ref> His premiership has been viewed less favourably; although public opinion of Brown has improved since he left office, his premiership has been viewed as average in [[Historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom|historical rankings]] and public opinion of British prime ministers.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

==Early life==
{{Gordon Brown sidebar}}
James Gordon Brown was born at the Orchard Maternity Nursing Home in [[Giffnock]], [[Renfrewshire (historic)|Renfrewshire]], Scotland.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Routledge |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Routledge |date=19 January 1998 |title=I could still be prime minister, says Brown |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/i-could-still-be-prime-minister-says-brown-1137937.html |access-date=12 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303162751/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/i-could-still-be-prime-minister-says-brown-1137937.html |archive-date=3 March 2009}}</ref><ref>Birth certificate of James Gordon Brown, 20 February 1951, Newton Mearns District, Renfrewshire 571/02 0053&nbsp;– General Register Office for Scotland</ref> His father was John Ebenezer Brown (1914–1998), a [[minister of the Church of Scotland]] and a strong influence on Brown.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 April 2004 |title=Chancellor's daughter remembered at christening service |work=The Scotsman |location=Edinburgh |url=http://news.scotsman.com/gordonbrownsfamily/Chancellors-daughter-remembered-at-christening.2522714.jp |access-date=23 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109125644/http://news.scotsman.com/gordonbrownsfamily/Chancellors-daughter-remembered-at-christening.2522714.jp |archive-date=9 January 2009}}</ref> His mother was Jessie Elizabeth "Bunty" Brown (''née'' Souter; 1918–2004);<ref name="mother">{{Cite news |date=20 September 2004 |title=Brown mourns loss of mother |work=The Scotsman |location=Edinburgh |url=http://news.scotsman.com/gordonbrownsfamily/Brown-mourns-loss-of-mother.2565552.jp |access-date=23 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111084127/http://news.scotsman.com/gordonbrownsfamily/Brown-mourns-loss-of-mother.2565552.jp |archive-date=11 January 2009}}</ref> she was the daughter of John Souter, a timber merchant.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barratt |first=Nick |date=28 April 2007 |title=Family detective |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2007/04/28/nosplit/ftfamdet128.xml |url-status=dead |access-date=2 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206071345/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fportal%2F2007%2F04%2F28%2Fnosplit%2Fftfamdet128.xml |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> The family moved to [[Kirkcaldy]] – then the largest town in [[Fife]], across the [[Firth of Forth]] from [[Edinburgh]]<ref name="aaa">{{Cite news |date=14 July 2007 |title=From a Scottish manse to Number 10 |work=[[The Washington Times]] |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jun/17/from-a-scottish-manse-to-number-10/ |access-date=23 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211191347/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jun/17/from-a-scottish-manse-to-number-10/ |archive-date=11 February 2011}}</ref> – when Gordon was three.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gordon Brown&nbsp;– Biography on Bio. |url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/gordon-brown.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024230749/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/gordon-brown.html |archive-date=24 October 2011 |publisher=thebiographychannel.co.uk}}</ref> Brown was brought up there with his elder brother John and younger brother [[Andrew Brown (media strategist)|Andrew]]<ref name=mother/> in a [[manse]]; he is therefore often referred to as a "son of the manse", an idiomatic Scottish phrase, similar to the American phrase "[[preacher's kid]]".<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 June 2007 |title=The making of Gordon Brown |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1554039/The-making-of-Gordon-Brown.html |access-date=27 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227085116/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1554039/The-making-of-Gordon-Brown.html |archive-date=27 February 2009 |quote=The next prime minister is always referred to as a 'son of the manse'}}</ref>

===Education===
Brown was educated first at Kirkcaldy West Primary School, where he was selected for an experimental [[Tracking (education)|fast stream]] education programme, which took him two years early to [[Kirkcaldy High School]] for an academic [[Hothousing|hothouse education]] taught in separate classes.<ref>{{Cite news |last=MacIntyre |first=Donald |date=23 September 2000 |title=Chancellor on the ropes; Profile: Gordon Brown |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/chancellor-on-the-ropes-701085.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=21 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123180655/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/chancellor-on-the-ropes-701085.html |archive-date=23 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/education/schools/3758377/gordon-brown-kirkcaldy-high-school-comprehensive-liz-truss/|title=The truth about Gordon Brown and Kirkcaldy High School after Liz Truss's claim in Tory speech|first=Laura|last=Devlin|date=5 October 2022}}</ref> Aged 16, he wrote that he loathed and resented this "ludicrous" experiment on young lives.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ben Macintyre |date=19 May 2007 |title='Cruel' experiment that left its mark on a very precocious boy |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/scotland-travel/cruel-experiment-that-left-its-mark-on-a-very-precocious-boy-733swrhksq3 |access-date=21 July 2023 |archive-date=21 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230721111120/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cruel-experiment-that-left-its-mark-on-a-very-precocious-boy-733swrhksq3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

He was accepted by the [[University of Edinburgh]] to study history at the same early age of 16. During an end-of-term [[rugby union]] match at his old school, he received a kick to the head and experienced a [[retinal detachment]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gaby Hinsliff |date=10 October 2009 |title=How Gordon Brown's loss of an eye informs his view of the world |work=[[The Observer]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/11/gordon-brown-eye-check-questions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228234013/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/11/gordon-brown-eye-check-questions |archive-date=28 December 2013}}</ref> This left him [[Blindness|blind]] in his left eye, despite treatment including several operations and weeks spent lying in a darkened room. Later at Edinburgh, while playing tennis, he noticed the same symptoms in his right eye. Brown underwent experimental surgery at the [[Edinburgh Royal Infirmary]] and his right eye was saved by a young eye surgeon, Hector Chawla.<ref>{{cite web |title=Indian-Origin Surgeon Saved Me from Blindness, Says Former UK PM |url=https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/indian-origin-surgeon-saved-me-from-blindness-says-former-uk-pm-1769013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108034517/https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/indian-origin-surgeon-saved-me-from-blindness-says-former-uk-pm-1769013 |archive-date=8 November 2017 |access-date=7 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="ddd">{{Cite news |last=Mackenzie |first=Suzie |date=25 September 2004 |title=Will he? Won't he? |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/sep/25/interviews.labourconference |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424025146/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2004/sep/25/interviews.labourconference |archive-date=24 April 2008}}</ref> Brown graduated from Edinburgh with an [[Master of Arts (Scotland)|undergraduate MA]] degree with [[First-Class Honours]] in history in 1972. He stayed on to obtain his [[PhD]] degree in history, which he gained ten years later in 1982, defending a thesis titled ''The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland 1918–1929''.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Brown |first=Gordon |date=1982 |title=The Labour Party and political change in Scotland, 1918–1929: the politics of five elections |url=https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/7136 |hdl=1842/7136 |access-date=7 September 2022 |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819033624/https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/7136 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bbb">{{cite web |title=History and tour-Gordon Brown |url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/gordon-brown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515034523/http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/prime-ministers-in-history/gordon-brown |archive-date=15 May 2010 |access-date=21 June 2009 |publisher=Prime Minister's Office}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Iain MacLean, Alistair MacMillan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70vRFO9Mo6oC&q=%22the+labour+party+and+political+change+in+scotland%22+1982&pg=PA262 |title=State of the Union: Unionism and the Alternatives in the United Kingdom |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=9780199258208 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509034900/https://books.google.com/books?id=70vRFO9Mo6oC&pg=PA262 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In his youth at the University of Edinburgh, Brown was involved in a romantic relationship with [[Margarita, Crown Princess of Romania]]. Margarita said about it: "It was a very solid and romantic story. I never stopped loving him but one day it didn't seem right anymore, it was politics, politics, politics, and I needed nurturing." An unnamed friend of those years is quoted by [[Paul Routledge]] in his biography of Brown as recalling: "She was sweet and gentle and obviously cut out to make somebody a very good wife. She was bright, too, though not like him, but they seemed made for each other."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Aslet |first=Clive |date=21 May 2007 |title=Romantic. Beautiful. I fell madly in love |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3632645/Romantic.-Beautiful.-I-fell-madly-in-love.html |url-status=live |access-date=26 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721142416/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3632645/Romantic.-Beautiful.-I-fell-madly-in-love.html |archive-date=21 July 2014}}</ref>

In 1972, while still a student, Brown was elected [[Rector of the University of Edinburgh]], the convener of the [[University Court]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenbaum |first=Martin |date=15 July 2005 |title=Brown's first taste of power |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4683799.stm |url-status=live |access-date=21 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021032935/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4683799.stm |archive-date=21 October 2013}}</ref> He served as Rector until 1975, and also edited the document ''The Red Paper on Scotland''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ascherson |first=Neal |date=5 October 2000 |title=Life on the ante-eurodiluvian Left |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/nov/05/scotlanddevolution.devolution |url-status=live |access-date=16 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503194254/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2000/nov/05/scotlanddevolution.devolution |archive-date=3 May 2009}}</ref>

===Career before Parliament===
From 1976 to 1980 Brown was employed as a lecturer in politics at [[Glasgow College of Technology]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 June 2004 |title=Gordon Brown timeline |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3809861.stm |url-status=live |access-date=23 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325075527/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3809861.stm |archive-date=25 March 2008}}</ref> He also worked as a tutor for the [[Open University]].<ref>{{cite web |date=10 September 2007 |title=Gordon Brown's TUC speech in full (to the 2007 TUC Congress) |url=http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2007/9/10/gordon-brown-s-tuc-speech-in-full |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322002841/http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2007/9/10/gordon-brown-s-tuc-speech-in-full |archive-date=22 March 2012 |access-date=13 April 2010 |publisher=politics.co.uk}}</ref> In the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]], Brown stood for the [[Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh South]] constituency, losing to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] candidate, [[Michael Ancram]].<ref name=bbb/>

From 1980, he worked as a journalist at [[Scottish Television]], later serving as current affairs editor until his election to Parliament in 1983.<ref name="GBStory">{{Cite news |last=Wheeler |first=Brian |date=27 June 2007 |title=The Gordon Brown story |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6743875.stm |url-status=live |access-date=11 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703221955/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6743875.stm |archive-date=3 July 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Newsinger |first=John |author-link=John Newsinger |date=Summer 2007 |title=Brown's Journey from Reformism to Neoliberalism |url=http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=334&issue=115 |journal=[[International Socialism]] |issue=115 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101225846/http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=334&issue=115 |archive-date=1 January 2009}}</ref>

==Election to Parliament and opposition==
[[File:Tony Blair 1997.jpg|right|thumb|190px|[[Tony Blair]] (pictured) was a close colleague of Brown. Together, they made a pact ([[Blair–Brown deal]]) that Brown would succeed Blair as prime minister.]]
Brown was elected to Parliament as a Labour MP at his second attempt, for [[Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency)|Dunfermline East]] in the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]]. His first Westminster office mate was a newly elected MP from the Sedgefield constituency, [[Tony Blair]]. Brown became an [[Parliamentary opposition|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 doctoral 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 following Labour's fourth consecutive defeat in the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|general election]] that year.<ref name=bbb/><ref name=GBStory/> Having led the ''Labour Movement Yes'' campaign, refusing to join the cross-party ''Yes for Scotland'' campaign, during the [[1979 Scottish devolution referendum]], while other senior Labour politicians – including [[Robin Cook]], [[Tam Dalyell]] and [[Brian Wilson (Labour politician)|Brian Wilson]] – campaigned for a ''No'' vote, Brown was subsequently a key participant in the [[Scottish Constitutional Convention]], signing the [[Claim of Right for Scotland]] in 1989.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wright |first=Kenyon |author-link=Canon Kenyon Wright |date=4 April 1999 |title=Scotland can sing a new song to a different tune and in a clear voice |work=[[The Sunday Herald]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18985240.html |url-status=dead |access-date=1 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327044716/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18985240.html |archive-date=27 March 2014 |quote=the Claim of Right of Scotland. I have it before me now as I write—a note of sadness as I see that the first two signatures, side by side, are those of the late John Smith MP and myself, a note of gratified surprise to see these closely followed by the autographs of Gordon Brown, Robin Cook, George Robertson, Donald Dewar, Malcolm Bruce, Jim Wallace and, more important, an impressive cross-section of Scotland's civil society.}}</ref>

Labour leader [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]] died suddenly in May 1994. Brown did not contest the leadership after [[Tony Blair]] became the favourite to win the [[1994 Labour Party leadership election|1994 leadership election]], deciding to make way for Blair to avoid splitting the pro-modernising vote in the leadership ballot.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tony Blair (1953 -) |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/blair_tony.shtml |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219221027/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/blair_tony.shtml |archive-date=19 February 2009}}</ref> It has long been rumoured [[Blair–Brown deal|a deal]] was struck between Blair and Brown at the former Granita restaurant in [[A1 in London#Islington|Islington]], in which Blair promised to give Brown control of economic policy in return for Brown not standing against him in the leadership election.<ref>{{Cite news |last=White |first=Michael |author-link=Michael White (journalist) |date=6 June 2003 |title=The guarantee which came to dominate new Labour politics for a decade |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jun/06/uk.labour |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011064835/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/jun/06/uk.labour |archive-date=11 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Mayer |first=Catherine |author-link=Catherine Mayer |date=16 January 2005 |title=Fight Club |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901050124-1018039-2,00.html |url-status=dead |access-date=1 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127020143/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C901050124-1018039-2%2C00.html |archive-date=27 January 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Colin |last2=d'Ancona |first2=Matthew |author2-link=Matthew d'Ancona |title=The night that power was on the menu |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1432329/The-night-that-power-was-on-the-menu.html |url-status=live |access-date=11 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802123218/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1432329/The-night-that-power-was-on-the-menu.html |archive-date=2 August 2017}}</ref> Whether this is true or not, the relationship between Blair and Brown was central to the fortunes of [[New Labour]], and they mostly remained united in public, despite reported serious private rifts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wheeler |first=Brian |date=10 May 2007 |title=The Tony Blair story |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6506365.stm |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127141458/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6506365.stm |archive-date=27 November 2007}}</ref>

As [[Shadow Chancellor]], Brown as Chancellor-in-waiting was seen as a good choice by business and the middle class{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}. During his tenure as chancellor, the rate of inflation sometimes exceeded the 2% target; the [[Governor of the Bank of England]], under the rules governing the Bank's role, wrote an explanatory letter to the Chancellor on each occasion inflation exceeded three per cent.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inflation |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303184647/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=19 |archive-date=3 March 2009 |access-date=13 April 2010 |publisher=[[National Statistics Online]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=17 March 2010 |title=Employment |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416060152/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=12 |archive-date=16 April 2010 |access-date=13 April 2010 |publisher=National Statistics Online}}</ref> Following a reorganisation of [[Scottish Westminster constituencies from 2005|Westminster constituencies]] in Scotland in 2005, Brown became MP for [[Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath]] at the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|general election]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Guardian 2005 election results for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/0,9338,-1059,00.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010721004952/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/0%2C9338%2C-1059%2C00.html |archive-date=21 July 2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=19 November 2007 |title=Find Your MP: Gordon Brown |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/712.stm |url-status=dead |access-date=23 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825194726/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/712.stm |archive-date=25 August 2007}}</ref>

==Chancellor of the Exchequer (1997–2007)==
{{main|Chancellorship of Gordon Brown}}
[[File:Chancellor Gordon Brown official portrait.jpg|thumb|236x236px|Brown's official portrait during [[Chancellorship of Gordon Brown|his chancellorship]]]]
In the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], Labour defeated the Conservatives by a landslide to end their 18-year exile from government, and when [[Tony Blair]], the new prime minister, announced his [[First Blair ministry|ministerial team]] on 2 May 1997, he appointed Brown as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. Brown would remain in this role for 10 years and two months, making him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history.<ref name=ddd/> Some achievements from Brown's decade as chancellor included making the Bank of England independent and delivering an agreement on poverty and climate change at the [[G8]] summit in 2005.<ref name=bbb/>

===Early economic reforms===
On taking office as chancellor, Brown gave the [[Bank of England]] operational independence in [[monetary policy]], and thus responsibility for setting interest rates through the Bank's [[Monetary Policy Committee (United Kingdom)|Monetary Policy Committee]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schifferes |first=Steve |date=6 June 2002 |title=Five years on: Rating the MPC |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2002471.stm |url-status=live |access-date=21 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213024319/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2002471.stm |archive-date=13 February 2007}}</ref> At the same time, he also changed the [[Inflation|inflation measure]] from the [[Retail Price Index]] to the [[Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)|Consumer Price Index]] and transferred responsibility for banking supervision to the [[Financial Services Authority]].<ref>{{cite web |date=6 May 1997 |title=Chancellor announces new framework for monetary policy |url=http://archive.treasury.gov.uk/press/1997/p40_97.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720163816/http://archive.treasury.gov.uk/press/1997/p40_97.html |archive-date=20 July 2011 |access-date=27 February 2009 |publisher=HM Treasury}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=1997 |title=Memorandum of Understanding between HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority |url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financialstability/mou.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203101708/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financialstability/mou.pdf |archive-date=3 December 2010 |access-date=14 October 2012 |publisher=HM Treasury, Bank of England, FSA}}</ref> Some commentators have argued that this division of responsibilities exacerbated the severity in Britain of the [[2008 financial crisis]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hosking |first=Patrick |date=2 June 2009 |title=Gordon Brown and Treasury accused on banking crisis |work=[[The Times]] |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6410087.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=19 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611225442/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6410087.ece |archive-date=11 June 2011}}</ref>

===Taxation and spending===
During the 1997 election campaign and subsequently, Brown pledged not to increase the basic or higher rates of [[income tax]]. Over his Chancellorship he reduced the basic rate from 23% to 20%; however, in all budgets but his final one, he increased the tax thresholds in line with inflation rather than with earnings, resulting in [[fiscal drag]]. Under Brown, [[corporation tax]] fell from a main rate of 33% to 28%, and from 24% to 19% for [[small business]]es.<ref name="AdamBrowne">Adam, S. and J. Browne: {{cite web |title=A survey of the UK tax system |url=http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn09.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150817100806/http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn09.pdf |archive-date=17 August 2015}}&nbsp;{{small|(2.74&nbsp;MB)}} (), [[Institute for Fiscal Studies]], [[Briefing note]] No. 9, March 2006</ref> In 1999, he introduced a lower [[10p tax rate|income tax band of 10%]]. He abolished this 10% tax band in [[Alistair Darling#10% income tax band|his last budget]] in 2007 to reduce the basic rate from 22% to 20%, increasing tax for 5 million people<ref name="indy_10revolt">{{Cite news |last=Grice |first=Andrew |date=4 April 2008 |title=Brown faces revolt over scrapping 10p income tax band |work=[[The Independent]] |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brown-faces-revolt-over-scrapping-10p-income-tax-band-804528.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=20 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206111335/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brown-faces-revolt-over-scrapping-10p-income-tax-band-804528.html?r=RSS |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> and, according to the calculations of the [[Institute for Fiscal Studies]], leaving those earning between £5,000 and £18,000 as the biggest losers.<ref name="times_10criticism">{{Cite news |last1=Oakeshott |first1=Isabel |author1-link=Isabel Oakeshott |last2=Leppard |first2=David |date=20 April 2008 |title=Gordon Brown cornered as rebellion over 10p tax reform grows |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |location=London |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3779976.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=15 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716143852/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3779976.ece |archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref> To backbench cheers, Brown had described the measure in his last Budget thus: "Having put in place more focused ways of incentivising work and directly supporting children and pensioners at a cost of £3bn a year, I can now return income tax to just two rates by removing the 10p band on non-savings income".<ref>{{cite web |date=9 May 2008 |title=FactCheck: temporary 10p tax |url=http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/business_money/factcheck%2Btemporary%2B10p%2Btax/2163447.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084411/http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/business_money/factcheck+temporary+10p+tax/2163447.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=21 May 2015 |website=[[Channel 4 News]]}}</ref> Brown also implemented the [[Windfall tax (United Kingdom)|Windfall Tax]] in 1997 on the privatised utilities. The tax produced an estimated one-off income to the government of £5 billion, which was used to fund the New Deal for Young People, a welfare-to-work program that sought to tackle long-term unemployment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Olle |first=Hannah |date=July 2022 |title=The New Deal for Young People (NDYP) |url=https://www.edge.co.uk/documents/319/LFP13final.pdf |journal=Learning from the Past |volume=13}}</ref>

According to the [[OECD]], UK taxation increased from a 39.3% share of gross domestic product in 1997 to 42.4% in 2006, going to a higher level than that of Germany.<ref>OECD: [http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/51/2483816.xls General Government Outlays as percentage of GDP] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208163319/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/51/2483816.xls |date=8 December 2015}} ([[Microsoft Office Excel]] table)</ref> This increase has mainly been attributed to active government policy, and not simply to the growing economy. Conservatives have accused Brown of imposing "[[stealth tax]]es". A commonly reported example resulted in 1997 from a technical change in the way [[corporation tax]] is collected, the indirect effect of which was for the [[dividend]]s on [[stock]] investments held within pensions to be taxed, thus lowering pension returns and contributing to the demise of most of the final salary pension funds in the UK.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Halligan |first=Liam |author-link=Liam Halligan |date=16 October 2006 |title=Brown's raid on pensions costs Britain £100&nbsp;billion |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1531448/Brown%27s-raid-on-pensions-costs-Britain-andpound100-billion.html |url-status=dead |access-date=1 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830070813/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1531448/Brown%27s-raid-on-pensions-costs-Britain-andpound100-billion.html |archive-date=30 August 2008}}</ref>

Brown's 2000 Spending Review outlined a major expansion of [[government spending]], particularly on health and education. In his April 2002 budget, Brown increased [[National Insurance]] to pay for health spending. He also introduced [[working tax credit]]s,<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 May 2006 |title=More get tax credit overpayments |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5032170.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060602213010/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5032170.stm |archive-date=2 June 2006}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn52.pdf#search=%22working%20tax%20credit%2016%20hours%22 The impact of tax and benefit changes between April 2000 and April 2003 on parents' labour supply] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928050618/http://www.ifs.org.uk/bns/bn52.pdf#search=%22working%20tax%20credit%2016%20hours%22 |date=28 September 2006}} Blundell, R., M. Brewer and A. Shepherd, [[Institute for Fiscal Studies]], Briefing Note No. 52, 2004</ref> and in his last budget as chancellor, Brown gave an extra £3&nbsp;billion in pension allowances, an increase in the child tax credit, and an increase in the working tax credit. These increases were followed by another £1&nbsp;billion of support for increases in the child tax credit.<ref>Whatever it Takes: The Real Story of Gordon Brown and New Labour</ref>

Under Brown, the tax code, the standard guide to tax, doubled in length to 17,000 pages.<ref>{{cite web |last=Houlder |first=Vanessa |date=7 September 2006 |title=Guide to tax code doubles in length under Brown |url=https://www.ft.com/content/89af8ff0-3e0d-11db-bd60-0000779e2340 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/89af8ff0-3e0d-11db-bd60-0000779e2340.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |website=Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hyde |first=Marina |date=13 February 2015 |title=Britain's tax code is an incredible 17,000 pages long, surely a dog-whistle to the very rich |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/13/britain-tax-code-17000-pages-long-dog-whistle-very-rich |url-status=live |access-date=14 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804151829/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/13/britain-tax-code-17000-pages-long-dog-whistle-very-rich |archive-date=4 August 2016}}</ref>

===European single currency===
In October 1997, Brown announced that the Treasury would set [[five economic tests]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Glover |first=Julian |date=29 September 2000 |title=The five tests |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/sep/29/emu.theeuro4 |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217084951/http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2000/sep/29/emu.theeuro4 |archive-date=17 February 2008}}</ref> to determine whether the economic case had been made for the United Kingdom to adopt the European single currency. The Treasury indicated that the tests had not been passed in June 2003.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 June 2003 |title=UK 'not yet ready for the euro' |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2975560.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030609181114/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2975560.stm |archive-date=9 June 2003}}</ref>

===Other issues===
In 2000, Brown was accused of starting a 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, describing its decision not to offer a place to state school pupil Laura Spence as "absolutely outrageous".<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 May 2000 |title=Oxford 'reject' wins Harvard scholarship |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/764141.stm |url-status=live |access-date=30 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109143101/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/764141.stm |archive-date=9 January 2009}}</ref> [[Roy Jenkins|Lord Jenkins]], then Oxford [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] and himself a former Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, said "nearly every fact he used was false."<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 June 2000 |title=Peers condemn Oxford attack |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/792021.stm |url-status=live |access-date=30 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107110919/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/792021.stm |archive-date=7 January 2009}}</ref>

Between 1999 and 2002 Brown sold 60% of the UK's [[gold reserve]]s shortly before gold entered a protracted bull market, since nicknamed by dealers as the [[Brown Bottom]] or Brown's Bottom.<ref name="timesgold">{{Cite news |date=15 April 2007 |title=Goldfinger Brown's £2&nbsp;billion blunder in the bullion market |work=[[The Times]] |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1655001.ece |url-status=dead |url-access=registration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511163250/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1655001.ece |archive-date=11 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=19 December 2008 |title=The outlook for gold |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/3849910/The-outlook-for-gold.html |access-date=19 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227042712/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/3849910/The-outlook-for-gold.html |archive-date=27 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Clive Maund |date=1 April 2007 |title=The Gold Bull Market Remembers How Gordon Brown Sold Half of Britains Reserves at the Lowest Price |url=http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article670.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126081527/http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article670.html |archive-date=26 November 2010 |access-date=19 November 2010 |publisher=Marketoracle.co.uk}}</ref> The official reason for selling the gold reserves was to reduce the [[Financial risk|portfolio risk]] of the UK's reserves by diversifying away from gold.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 2002 |title=Review of the sale of part of the UK gold reserves |url=http://hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/GoldReserves.PDF |url-status=dead |publisher=[[HM Treasury]] |page=7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421115541/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/goldreserves.pdf |archive-date=21 April 2013}}</ref> The UK eventually sold about 395 tons of gold over 17 auctions from July 1999 to March 2002, at an average price of about US$275 per ounce, raising approximately US$3.5&nbsp;billion.<ref>^ a b c Gold: Does Gordon Brown's regret selling half of Britains' gold reserves 10 years ago?, The Daily Telegraph, 8 May 2009</ref> By 2011, that quantity of gold would be worth over $19 billion, leading to Brown's decision to sell the gold being widely criticised.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Watt |first1=Holly |last2=Winnett |first2=Robert |date=15 April 2007 |title=Goldfinger Brown's £2&nbsp;billion blunder in the bullion market |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1655001.ece |url-status=dead |url-access=registration |access-date=19 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511163250/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1655001.ece |archive-date=11 May 2008}}</ref> As of August 2024 the gold prize is approximately £1,905 per ounce, which would value the reserves sold at £26.5 billion.

As Chancellor, Brown argued against [[Renationalisation of British Rail|renationalising the railways]], saying at the Labour conference in 2004 that it would cost £22&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Unions defeat Labour in rail vote |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3694900.stm |url-status=live |access-date=16 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051227021902/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3694900.stm |archive-date=27 December 2005}}</ref>

During his time as chancellor, Brown reportedly believed that it was appropriate to remove most, but not all, of the unpayable [[Third World debt]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 June 1999 |title=Gordon Brown answers your questions |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/369846.stm |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021022191058/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/369846.stm |archive-date=22 October 2002}}</ref> On 20 April 2006, in a speech to the United Nations Ambassadors, Brown outlined a "[[Green politics|Green]]" view of global development.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gordon Brown's speech, to United Nations Ambassadors, New York, 20 April 2006 |url=http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/speech_chex_200406.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20081231041153/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/speech_chex_200406.htm |archive-date=31 December 2008 |access-date=17 October 2009 |publisher=HM Treasury}}</ref>

=== Labour leadership bid ===
{{main|2007 Labour Party leadership election (UK)}}

In October 2004, Blair announced he would not lead the party into a fourth general election, but would serve a full third term.<ref>{{Cite news |last=White |first=Michael |date=21 October 2004 |title=Blair: I will serve a full third term |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/oct/01/uk.labourconference2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204034459/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2004/oct/01/uk.labourconference2 |archive-date=4 December 2009 |access-date=19 July 2009 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> Political comment over the relationship between Brown and Blair continued up to and beyond the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 election]], which Labour won with a reduced [[Majority government|majority]] and reduced vote share. Blair announced on 7 September 2006 that he would step down within a year.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cowell |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Cowell |date=8 September 2006 |title=Blair to Give Up Post as Premier Within One Year |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/08/world/europe/08blair.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012190450/http://nytimes.com/2006/09/08/world/europe/08blair.html?ex=1315368000&en=5e7bcfe77c01e050&ei=5088 |archive-date=12 October 2007 |access-date=10 July 2007 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Brown was the clear favourite to succeed Blair; he was the only [[2007 Labour Party leadership election (UK)|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]]. This enabled Brown to signal the most significant priorities for his agenda as prime minister; speaking at a [[Fabian Society]] conference on 'The Next Decade' in January 2007, he stressed 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.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Make education our national mission |date=15 January 2007 |publisher=[[Fabian Society]] |url=http://www.fabian-society.org.uk/events/event-reports/brown-make-education-our-national-mission |access-date=21 June 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722190808/http://www.fabian-society.org.uk/events/event-reports/brown-make-education-our-national-mission |archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>

On 11 May 2007, after months of speculation, Brown formally announced his bid for the Labour leadership. He launched his campaign website the same day as formally announcing his bid for leadership, titled "Gordon Brown for Britain".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Helm |first1=Toby |last2=Jones |first2=George |date=12 May 2007 |title=Brown sweeps away the Blair glitz |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1551295/Brown-sweeps-away-the-Blair-glitz.html |url-status=live |access-date=1 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318022304/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1551295/Brown-sweeps-away-the-Blair-glitz.html |archive-date=18 March 2014 }}</ref> On 16 May, [[Channel 4 News]] announced that [[Andrew MacKinlay]] had nominated Brown, giving him 308 nominations{{mdash}}enough to avoid a leadership contest. A BBC report states that the decisive nomination was made by [[Tony Wright (Cannock Chase MP)|Tony Wright]] with MacKinlay yet to nominate at that point.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 May 2007 |title=Brown will enter No 10 unopposed |publisher=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6660565.stm |url-status=live |access-date=5 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917170058/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6660565.stm |archive-date=17 September 2007 }}</ref> Brown replaced Blair as [[Leader of the Labour Party (UK)|Leader of the Labour Party]] on 24 June 2007.

==Prime minister (2007–2010)==
{{main|Premiership of Gordon Brown}}
[[File:Gordon Brown's first Cabinet Meeting.jpg|thumb|Brown chairing his first cabinet meeting]]
After Blair tendered his resignation to [[Queen Elizabeth II]], Brown was invited by the queen to form a government and become prime minister on 27 June 2007. In his first speech as prime minister, Brown said "This will be a new government with new priorities and I have been privileged to have been granted the great opportunity to serve my country. And at all times I will be strong in purpose, steadfast in will, resolute in action, in the service of what matters to the British people, meeting the concerns and aspirations of our whole country."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gordon Brown's first speech as Prime Minister |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555770/Gordon-Browns-first-speech-as-Prime-Minister.html |access-date=10 May 2023 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk |date=27 June 2007 |archive-date=1 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001214849/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1555770/Gordon-Browns-first-speech-as-Prime-Minister.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=27 June 2007 |title=Brown is UK's new prime minister |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6245682.stm |url-status=live |access-date=23 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309001812/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6245682.stm |archive-date=9 March 2008}}</ref>

Brown rescinded some of the policies which had been introduced or were planned by Blair's administration. He remained committed to [[Special Relationship|close ties with the United States]] and to the war in Iraq, although he established [[Iraq Inquiry|an inquiry into the reasons for Britain's participation in the conflict]]. He proposed a "government of all the talents" which would involve co-opting leading personalities from industry and professional occupations into government positions. Brown also appointed [[Jacqui Smith]] as the UK's first female [[Home Secretary]], while Brown's [[Chancellorship of Gordon Brown|former position]] as [[chancellor of the exchequer]] was taken over by [[Alistair Darling]]. He proposed moving some traditional [[Powers of the prime minister of the United Kingdom|prime ministerial powers]] conferred by [[royal prerogative]] to the realm of Parliament, such as the power to declare war and approve appointments to senior positions. Brown wanted Parliament to gain the right to ratify treaties and have more oversight of the intelligence services. He also proposed moving some powers from Parliament to citizens, including the right to form "citizens' juries", easily petition Parliament for new laws, and rally outside Westminster. He asserted that the attorney general should not have the right to decide whether to prosecute in individual cases, such as in the [[Cash-for-Honours scandal|loans for peerages]] scandal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 July 2007 |title=Gordon Brown's big idea |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |url=http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9441642 |url-status=live |access-date=15 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022105918/http://www.economist.com/node/9441642?story_id=9441642 |archive-date=22 October 2012}}</ref>[[File:George W. and Laura Bush + Gordon and Sarah Brown 2008.jpg|thumb|right|Brown and [[George W. Bush]], President of the United States, meet at Downing Street, June 2008]]There was speculation during September and early October 2007 about whether Brown would call a [[snap general election]]. Indeed, the party launched the [[Not flash, just Gordon]] advertising campaign, which was seen largely as pre-election promotion of Brown as prime minister; however, Brown announced on 6 October that there would be no election any time soon – despite opinion polls showing that he was capable of winning an election should he call one.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McBride |first=Damian |date=5 October 2012 |title=Gordon Brown and the 2007 election: why it never happened |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/9589561/Gordon-Brown-and-the-2007-election-why-it-never-happened.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006021824/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/9589561/Gordon-Brown-and-the-2007-election-why-it-never-happened.html |archive-date=6 October 2012}}</ref> This proved to be a costly mistake, as during 2008 his party slid behind the Conservatives (led by [[David Cameron]]) in the polls. Disputes over political donations, a string of losses in local elections, and by-election losses in [[Crewe]] and [[Glasgow]] did himself and the government no favours either.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Landale |first=James |author-link=James Landale |date=11 May 2010 |title=Gordon Brown's political career |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8673608.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513074445/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8673608.stm |archive-date=13 May 2010}}</ref> Brown has since claimed that Labour would have won the 2007 election but he did not believe an early election was in the national interest.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hennessy |first1=Patrick |last2=Kite |first2=Melissa |date=7 October 2007 |title=Gordon Brown: Why I put off an early election |language=en-GB |website=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/1565348/Gordon-Brown-Why-I-put-off-an-early-election.html |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-date=22 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522153824/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/1565348/Gordon-Brown-Why-I-put-off-an-early-election.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sylvester |first=Rachel |date=22 April 2015 |title=What if... Gordon Brown had called an election in 2007? |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/what-if-gordon-brown-had-called-an-election-in-2007 |access-date=20 January 2021 |website=Prospect Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=6 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306120629/https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/what-if-gordon-brown-had-called-an-election-in-2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

His political opponents accused him of being indecisive, which Brown denied.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 October 2007 |title=Brown rules out autumn election |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7031749.stm |url-status=live |access-date=6 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011005712/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7031749.stm |archive-date=11 October 2007}}</ref> In July 2008, he supported a [[Counter-Terrorism Act 2008|new bill extending the pre-charge detention period to 42 days]]. The bill was met with opposition on both sides of the House and backbench rebellion. In the end, the bill passed by just nine votes.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Philip |date=2 July 2008 |title=Labour denies Keith Vaz offered 'reward' for backing government |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/labour-denies-keith-vaz-offered-reward-for-backing-government-8jc3wxzl7rx |url-access=registration |access-date=2 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |date=12 June 2008 |title=There were no deals over 42-day vote, insists Brown |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/jun/12/terrorism.labour |url-status=live |access-date=12 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612233226/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jun/12/terrorism.labour |archive-date=12 June 2008}}</ref> The House of Lords defeated the bill, with Lords characterising it as "fatally flawed, ill thought through and unnecessary", stating that "it seeks to further erode fundamental legal and civil rights".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Prince |first=Rosa |date=14 October 2008 |title=Jacqui Smith creates 'emergency bill' after 42-day detention defeat |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3192152/Jacqui-Smith-creates-emergency-bill-after-42-day-detention-defeat.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017043119/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3192152/Jacqui-Smith-creates-emergency-bill-after-42-day-detention-defeat.html |archive-date=17 October 2008}}</ref>

Brown was mentioned by the press in the expenses crisis for claiming for the payment of his cleaner; however, no wrongdoing was found and the Commons Authority did not pursue Brown over the claim. Meanwhile, the Commons Fees Office stated that a double payment for a £153 plumbing repair bill was a mistake on their part and that Brown had repaid it in full.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 May 2009 |title=MPs' expenses: the true story of Gordon Brown, the cleaner and my husband |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/may/10/gordon-brown-cleaner-mps-expenses |url-status=live |access-date=13 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513102624/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/10/gordon-brown-cleaner-mps-expenses |archive-date=13 May 2009}}</ref><ref name="bbckeydetails">{{Cite news |date=19 June 2009 |title=MPs' expenses claims&nbsp;– key details |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8039273.stm |url-status=live |access-date=13 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511161834/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8039273.stm |archive-date=11 May 2009}}</ref>

===Domestic policy===
[[File:Gordon Brown Davos 2008 crop (1).jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Brown at the [[World Economic Forum]] meeting in Davos in 2008]]
During his Labour leadership campaign Brown proposed some policy initiatives, which he called the ''manifesto for change''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hipwell |first=Deirdre |date=13 May 2007 |title=Gordon's manifesto for change |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/gordons-manifesto-for-change-rqswxtdd0db |access-date=15 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Watt |first=Nicholas |date=13 May 2007 |title=Poll surge as Brown unveils policy blitz |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/may/13/uk.labourleadership |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203150026/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/may/13/uk.labourleadership |archive-date=3 February 2009}}</ref>

The manifesto included a clampdown on corruption and a new [[Ministerial Code]], which set out clear standards of behaviour for ministers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 July 2007 |title=Brown sets out reform proposals |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6258794.stm |url-status=live |access-date=3 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726222650/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6258794.stm |archive-date=26 July 2008}}</ref> He also stated in a speech when announcing his bid that he wanted a "better constitution" that is "clear about the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen in Britain today". He planned to set up an all-party convention to look at new powers for Parliament and to look at rebalancing powers between [[Whitehall]] and local government. Brown said he would give Parliament the final say on whether British troops were sent into action in future.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-16050574|title=Parliament 'war powers' must be law by 2015, say MPs|date=6 December 2011|publisher=BBC|accessdate=4 June 2024}}</ref>

He said he wanted to release more land and ease access to ownership with shared equity schemes. He backed a proposal to build new [[eco-towns]], each housing between 10,000 and 20,000 homeowners – up to 100,000 new homes in total.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/may/13/property.communities|title=New eco-towns to ease house crisis|first1=Nicholas |last1=Watt|first2= Jo |last2=Revill|work=The Guardian|date=13 May 2007|accessdate=3 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607083136/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/may/13/property.communities|archive-date=7 June 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>
Brown also said he wanted to have doctors' surgeries open at the weekends, and GPs on call in the evenings. Doctors were given the right of opting out of out-of-hours care in 2007, under a controversial pay deal, signed by then-Health Secretary [[John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan|John Reid]], which awarded them a 22 per cent pay rise in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/brown-to-tackle-ps100-000-a-year-gps-over-pay-and-hours-6582209.html|title=Brown to tackle £100,000 a year GPs over pay and hours|work=[[The Evening Standard]]|date=12 April 2012|accessdate=4 June 2024}}</ref>

On 5 June 2007, just three weeks before he was due to take the post of prime minister, Brown made a speech promising "British Jobs for British workers".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones, Toby Helm and Graeme Wilson |first=George |date=6 June 2007 |title=British workers for British jobs says Brown |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1553710/British-workers-for-British-jobs-says-Brown.html |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202121416/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1553710/British-workers-for-British-jobs-says-Brown.html |archive-date=2 February 2009}}</ref> Brown reiterated that promise at the Labour Party's annual conference in September, which caused controversy as he coupled this with a commitment to crack down on migrant workers.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Ben |date=10 September 2007 |title='Jobs for every Briton,' says Brown in crackdown on migrant workers |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jobs-for-every-briton-says-brown-in-crackdown-on-migrant-workers-401873.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416222420/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jobs-for-every-briton-says-brown-in-crackdown-on-migrant-workers-401873.html |archive-date=16 April 2009}}</ref><ref name="BBCJobs">{{Cite news |last=Parkinson |first=Justin |date=16 November 2007 |title=What does 'British jobs' pledge mean? |work=BBC News |location=London |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7097837.stm |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002023829/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7097837.stm |archive-date=2 October 2013}}</ref> The Conservative Party, led by [[David Cameron]], promptly pointed out that such a commitment was illegal under EU law.<ref name=BBCJobs/> Other controversial statements made by Brown about migration included him stating that English lessons and taking mandatory community service should be prerequisites for being granted UK citizenship.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 February 2007 |title=Migrants should volunteer – Brown |language=en-GB |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6399457.stm |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001184722/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6399457.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the Queen's Speech to Parliament on 3 December 2008, the Brown government unveiled plans to introduce lie detector tests, based on voice recognition technology, in order to determine whether to accept benefit claims.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 December 2008 |title=Lie detector tests to catch benefit cheats |url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/dec/03/queeens-speech-benefit-cheats-fraud |access-date=1 October 2022 |first=Patrick |last=Wintour| authorlink=Patrick Wintour|website=The Guardian |archive-date=5 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005201448/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/dec/03/queeens-speech-benefit-cheats-fraud |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite having spent £2.4 million on these tests, trials performed by the [[Department for Work and Pensions]] showed that they were inaccurate approximately four of every seven times they were used.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 March 2009 |title=Government data shows £2.4m 'lie detection' didn't work in 4 of 7 trials |url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2009/mar/19/dwp-voice-risk-analysis-statistics |access-date=1 October 2022 |first=Charles|last=Arthur|website=The Guardian |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004152736/https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2009/mar/19/dwp-voice-risk-analysis-statistics |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Foreign policy===
[[File:Gordon Brown troop visit.jpg|thumb|right|Brown meets British troops during a visit to Basra, 2007]]
[[File:Obama, Prince Charles, Brown, Harper & Sarkozy at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial 2009-06-06.JPG|thumb|US president [[Barack Obama]], [[Prince Charles]], Brown, Canadian prime minister [[Stephen Harper]] and French president [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] arrive at the Colleville-sur-Mer cemetery to attend a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the [[D-Day landings]] in Normandy, 6 June 2009.]]
Brown had been committed to the [[Iraq War]], but said in a speech in June 2007 that he would "learn the lessons" from the mistakes made in Iraq.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=George |date=12 June 2007 |title=The subtle shift in British foreign policy |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1554223/Brown-in-Baghdad-with-%27lessons-to-learn%27.html |url-status=dead |access-date=23 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206123045/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1554223/Brown-in-Baghdad-with-%27lessons-to-learn%27.html |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> Brown said in a letter published on 17 March 2008 that the United Kingdom would hold [[Iraq Inquiry|an inquiry into the war]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Grice |first1=Andrew |last2=Morris |first2=Nigel |date=17 March 2008 |title=There will be a public inquiry into Iraq, says Brown |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/there-will-be-a-public-inquiry-into-iraq-says-brown-796851.html |access-date=19 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418111920/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/there-will-be-a-public-inquiry-into-iraq-says-brown-796851.html |archive-date=18 April 2010}}</ref>

Brown went to great lengths to empathise with those who lost family members in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. He has often said "War is tragic", echoing Blair's quote, "War is horrible".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dougary, Ginny |author-link=Ginny Dougary |date=10 April 2010 |title=What Gordon Brown is really thinking |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/gordon-brown-interview-the-election-blair-and-family-life-wng67z7zg83 |access-date=27 April 2010 }}</ref> Nonetheless, in November 2007 Brown was accused by some senior military figures of not adhering to the [[Military Covenant]], a convention within British politics ensuring adequate safeguards, rewards and compensation for military personnel who risk their lives in obedience to orders derived from the policy of the elected government.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 November 2007 |title=Renew the Military Covenant |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-renew-the-military-covenant--in-full-399856.html |url-status=live |access-date=11 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206110745/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-renew-the-military-covenant--in-full-399856.html |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref>

Brown did not attend the opening ceremony of the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] on 8 August 2008 in [[Beijing]]; instead, he attended the closing ceremony on 24 August 2008. Brown had been under intense pressure from human rights campaigners to send a message to [[China]], concerning the [[2008 Tibetan unrest]]. His decision not to attend the opening ceremony was not an act of protest, but rather was made several weeks in advance and not intended as a stand on principle.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 April 2008 |title=PM not attending Olympics opening |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7339580.stm |url-status=live |access-date=19 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417112037/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7339580.stm |archive-date=17 April 2008}}</ref>

In a speech in July 2007, Brown clarified his position regarding Britain's relationship with the [[United States]]:<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 July 2007 |title=Speech not critical of US&nbsp;– Brown |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6896797.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819034852/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6896797.stm |archive-date=19 August 2007}}</ref> "We will not allow people to separate us from the United States of America in dealing with the common challenges that we face around the world. I think people have got to remember that the special relationship between a British prime minister and an American president is built on the things that we share, the same enduring values about the importance of liberty, opportunity, the dignity of the individual. I will continue to work, as [[Tony Blair]] did, very closely with the American administration."

Brown and the Labour party had pledged to allow a referendum on the [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|Constitutional Treaty]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Labour Party manifesto 2005 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/13_04_05_labour_manifesto.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307110101/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/13_04_05_labour_manifesto.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2008 |page=82}}</ref> On 13 December 2007, [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]] [[David Miliband]] attended for the Prime Minister at the official signing ceremony for the [[Treaty of Lisbon]]. Brown's opponents on both sides of the House, and in the press, suggested that ratification by Parliament was not enough and that a referendum should also be held. Labour's 2005 manifesto had pledged to give the British public a referendum on the original [[EU Constitution]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Francis |date=23 October 2007 |title=Gordon Brown attacked on all sides for 'running away' from referendum |work=[[The Times]] |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2718086.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=23 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007162634/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2718086.ece |archive-date=7 October 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2 October 2007 |title=Cameron attacks Brown on EU vote |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7023458.stm |url-status=live |access-date=15 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021083951/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7023458.stm |archive-date=21 October 2007}}</ref> Brown argued that the Treaty significantly differed from the Constitution, and as such did not require a referendum. Most notably the Supremacy Clause<ref>{{Cite web |title=EUR-Lex - 12004V006 - EN - EUR-Lex |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/treaty/tcons_2004/art_6/oj/eng |access-date=27 April 2025 |website=eur-lex.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref> was removed and replaced with a substantially weaker declaration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EUR-Lex - 12008E/AFI/DCL/17 - EN - EUR-Lex |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/treaty/lis_2008/fna_1/dcl_17/oj/eng |access-date=27 April 2025 |website=eur-lex.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref> He also responded with plans for a lengthy debate on the topic, and stated that he believed the document to be too complex to be decided by referendum.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Elliott |first1=Francis |last2=Charter |first2=David |date=19 October 2007 |title=Battle of the EU treaty to last for months |work=[[The Times]] |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2687253.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=19 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012185235/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2687253.ece |archive-date=12 October 2008}}</ref>

===Drug policy===
During Brown's premiership, in October 2008, the [[Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs]] (ACMD) recommended to the then [[Home Secretary]] [[Jacqui Smith]] that [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] remain classified as a [[Class C drug]].<ref name="BBC News cannabis">{{Cite news |date=31 October 2009 |title=Debate over cannabis classification |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7845023.stm |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019033134/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8334774.stm |archive-date=19 October 2010}}</ref> Acting against the advice of the council, she chose to reclassify it as [[Drugs controlled by the UK Misuse of Drugs Act#Class B drugs|Class B]].<ref name="BBC News cannabis" /> After Professor [[David Nutt]], the chair of the ACMD, criticised this move in a lecture in 2009, he was asked to step down by then Home Secretary [[Alan Johnson]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 October 2009 |title=Cannabis row drugs adviser sacked |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8334774.stm |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019033134/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8334774.stm |archive-date=19 October 2010}}</ref> Following his resignation, Professor Nutt said Brown had "made up his mind" to reclassify cannabis despite evidence to the contrary.<ref name="Batty20091031">{{Cite news |last=Batty |first=David |date=31 October 2009 |title=Professor David Nutt warns resignations may result from prime minister's 'absurd' stance on reclassification |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/31/david-nutt-drugs-adviser-sacked |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091102065008/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/31/david-nutt-drugs-adviser-sacked |archive-date=2 November 2009}}</ref> Brown had argued, "I don't think that the previous studies took into account that so much of the cannabis on the streets is now of a lethal quality and we really have got to send out a message to young people—this is not acceptable".<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 April 2008 |title=Brown says message must be sent on cannabis |work=[[Reuters]] |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2973937220080430 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090620023313/http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2973937220080430 |archive-date=20 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Oates |first=John |date=29 April 2008 |title=Brown opts for morality over science on 'lethal skunk' |work=[[The Register]] |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/29/brown_cannabis_science |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430220351/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/29/brown_cannabis_science |archive-date=30 April 2008}}</ref> Professor Nutt's predecessor at the ACMD, [[Sir Michael Rawlins]], later said, "Governments may well have good reasons for taking an alternative view&nbsp;... When that happens, then the government should explain why it's ignoring the particular advice".<ref>{{Cite news |date=31 October 2009 |title=Sacked adviser criticises Brown |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8335189.stm |url-status=live |access-date=31 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031100740/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8335189.stm |archive-date=31 October 2009}}</ref>

===Global recession===
Brown's premiership coincided with the [[Great Recession|global recession]], during which Brown called for fiscal action in an attempt to stimulate aggregate demand. Domestically, Brown's administration introduced measures including a [[2008 United Kingdom bank rescue package|bank rescue package]] worth around £500&nbsp;billion (approximately $850&nbsp;billion), a temporary 2.5 percentage point cut in [[value-added tax]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 December 2008 |title=Lower VAT rate comes into force |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7757854.stm |url-status=live |access-date=12 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419185951/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7757854.stm |archive-date=19 April 2012}}</ref> and a "car scrappage" scheme.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 September 2009 |title=Scrappage scheme to be extended |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8278679.stm |url-status=live |access-date=12 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116001953/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8278679.stm |archive-date=16 November 2012}}</ref>

===Challenges to leadership===
In mid-2008, Brown's leadership was presented with a challenge as some MPs openly called for him to resign.  This event was dubbed the 'Lancashire Plot', as two backbenchers from [[Local Government Act 1972|(pre-1974) Lancashire]] urged him to step down and a third questioned his chances of holding on to the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] leadership.  Several MPs argued that if Brown did not recover in the polls by early 2009, he should call for a leadership contest; however, certain prominent MPs, such as [[Jacqui Smith]] and [[Bill Rammell]], suggested that Brown was the right person to lead Britain through its economic crisis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Nigel |date=29 July 2008 |title=Cabinet backs Brown but 'Lancashire plot' sparks open warfare |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cabinet-backs-brown-but-lancashire-plot-sparks-open-warfare-879414.html |url-status=live |access-date=29 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206111340/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cabinet-backs-brown-but-lancashire-plot-sparks-open-warfare-879414.html |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref>  In the autumn, [[Siobhain McDonagh]], an MP and junior government whip, who during her time in office had never voted against the government,<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 September 2008 |title=Profile: Siobhain McDonagh |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7613296.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915050755/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7613296.stm |archive-date=15 September 2008}}</ref> spoke of the need for discussion over Brown's position.  While she did not state that she wanted Brown deposed, she implored the Labour Party to hold a leadership election. McDonagh was sacked from her role shortly afterward, on 12 September.<ref name="Whipsacked">{{Cite news |date=12 September 2008 |title=Whip sacked over leader bid call |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7613086.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915005608/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7613086.stm |archive-date=15 September 2008}}</ref> She was supported in making clear her desire for a contest by [[Joan Ryan (politician)|Joan Ryan]] (who applied, as McDonagh had, for leadership nomination papers, and became the second rebel to be fired from her job), [[Jim Dowd (politician)|Jim Dowd]], [[Greg Pope]], and a string of others who had previously held positions in government.<ref name="Exministers">{{Cite news |last=Jonathan Oliver, Marie Woolf |date=14 September 2008 |title=Ex-ministers join Gordon Brown rebellion |work=[[The Times]] |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4749182.ece |url-status=dead |access-date=14 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716135448/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4749182.ece |archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

In the face of this speculation over Brown's future, his ministers backed him to lead the party, and [[Harriet Harman]] and [[David Miliband]] denied that they were preparing leadership bids. After Labour lost the [[Glasgow East by-election]] in July, Harman, the deputy leader of the party, said that Brown was the "solution", not the "problem"; Home Secretary Smith, Justice Secretary [[Jack Straw]], Schools Secretary [[Ed Balls]] and Cabinet Office Minister [[Ed Miliband]] all re-affirmed their support for Brown.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 July 2008 |title=Harman denies planning leader bid |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7531576.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201060449/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7531576.stm |archive-date=1 December 2008}}</ref> The [[Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|deputy prime minister]] under Blair, [[John Prescott]], also pledged his support.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 July 2008 |title=Prescott warns over PM challenge |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7527725.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201060441/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7527725.stm |archive-date=1 December 2008}}</ref> Foreign Secretary David Miliband then denied that he was plotting a leadership bid, when on 30 July, an article written by him in ''[[The Guardian]]'' was interpreted by a large number in the media as an attempt to undermine Brown. In the article, Miliband outlined the party's future, but neglected to mention the prime minister. Miliband, responded to this by saying that he was confident Brown could lead Labour to victory in the next general election, and that his article was an attack against the [[fatalism]] in the party since the loss of [[Glasgow East]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 July 2008 |title=Miliband denies 'leadership' bid |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7532691.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914082938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7532691.stm |archive-date=14 September 2008}}</ref> Miliband continued to show his support for Brown in the face of the challenge that emerged in September, as did [[Business Secretary]] [[John Hutton, Baron Hutton of Furness|John Hutton]], [[Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|Environment Secretary]] [[Hilary Benn]], and [[Chief Whip of the Labour Party|Chief Whip]] [[Geoff Hoon]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 September 2008 |title=Miliband throws support behind PM |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7615274.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915090720/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7615274.stm |archive-date=15 September 2008}}</ref>

On 4 June 2009 [[James Purnell]] resigned from the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]], and called for Brown's resignation as prime minister.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jun/04/james-purnell-resigns-gordon-brown-cabinet|title=James Purnell quits cabinet and calls on Gordon Brown to stand aside now|first1=Allegra |last1=Stratton|authorlink1=Allegra Stratton|first2=Patrick|last2=Wintour|authorlink2=Patrick Wintour|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=4 June 2009|accessdate=2 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503161943/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jun/04/james-purnell-resigns-gordon-brown-cabinet|archive-date=3 May 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 6 January 2010, [[Patricia Hewitt]] and [[Geoff Hoon]] jointly called for a secret ballot on the future of Brown's leadership.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kettle |first=Martin |date=6 January 2010 |title=Hewitt and Hoon's great gamble |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/06/hoon-hewitt-gordon-brown-labour |url-status=live |access-date=3 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108090357/http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/06/hoon-hewitt-gordon-brown-labour |archive-date=8 January 2010}}</ref>  The call received little support, and the following day Hoon said that it appeared to have failed and was "over".  Brown later referred to the call for a secret ballot as a "form of silliness".<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 January 2010 |title=Gordon Brown says leadership challenge was 'silliness' |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8450375.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110052201/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8450375.stm |archive-date=10 January 2010}}</ref>

===By-elections and 2009 local and EU elections===
[[File:Biden Brown, Policy Network, April 6 2009.jpg|thumb|250px|Brown greeting then-U.S. vice president [[Joe Biden]] in [[Chile]], April 2009]]
In the local elections on 1 May 2008, Labour suffered its worst results in 40 years, finishing in third place with a projected 24% share of the national vote.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 May 2008 |title=Labour suffers big council losses |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7372860.stm |url-status=live |access-date=2 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921211337/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7372860.stm |archive-date=21 September 2011}}</ref> Subsequently, the party saw the loss of by-elections in [[2008 Crewe and Nantwich by-election|Crewe and Nantwich]] and [[2008 Henley by-election|Henley]] as well as slumps in the polls. A [[2008 Glasgow East by-election|by-election in Glasgow East]] triggered by the resignation of [[David Marshall (British politician)|David Marshall]] saw Labour struggle to appoint a candidate, eventually settling for [[Margaret Curran]], a sitting MSP in the [[Scottish Parliament]]. The SNP, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats all derided Labour for their disorganised nature, with [[Alex Salmond]] commenting "This is their 'lost weekend'—they don't have a leader in Scotland, they don't have a candidate in Glasgow East, and they have a prime minister who refuses to come to the constituency".<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 July 2008 |title=Labour MSP joins by-election race |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7491574.stm |url-status=live |access-date=3 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122113838/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7491574.stm |archive-date=22 November 2008}}</ref> Labour lost the constituency to the [[Scottish National Party]]'s [[John Mason (Scottish politician)|John Mason]] who took 11,277 votes, with Labour just 365 behind. The seat experienced a swing of 22.54%.<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 July 2008 |title=SNP stuns Labour in Glasgow East |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7522153.stm |url-status=live |access-date=19 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921055948/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7522153.stm |archive-date=21 September 2008}}</ref>

In the [[2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|European elections]], Labour polled 16% of the vote, finishing in third place behind the Conservatives and [[UK Independence Party]] (UKIP).<ref name=labour/> Voter apathy was reflected in the historically low turnout of around thirty-three per cent. In Scotland, voter turnout was only twenty-eight per cent. In the [[2009 United Kingdom local elections|local elections]], Labour polled 23% of the vote, finishing in third place behind [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] and [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], with Labour losing control of the four councils it had held prior to the election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 June 2009 |title=Election 2009 &#124; Councils A-Z |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/region_999999.stm |url-status=live |access-date=21 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609072137/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/region_999999.stm |archive-date=9 June 2009}}</ref> In a vote widely considered to be a reaction to the expenses scandal, the share of the votes was down for all the major parties; Labour was down one per cent, the Conservative share was down five per cent. The beneficiary of the public backlash was generally seen to be the minor parties, including the [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] and UKIP. These results were Labour's worst since World War II. Brown was quoted in the press as having said that the results were "a painful defeat for Labour", and that "too many good people doing so much good for their communities and their constituencies have lost through no fault of their own."<ref name=timesonline1/><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 June 2009 |title=Salmond hails historic Euro win |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8088358.stm |url-status=live |access-date=2 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608013122/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8088358.stm |archive-date=8 June 2009}}</ref>

===2010 general election===
{{main|2010 United Kingdom general election}}
In April 2010, Brown asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament. The general election campaign included the first televised leadership debates in Britain. The result of the election on 6 May was a [[hung parliament]].<ref name="BBC 07-05-2010">{{Cite news |date=7 May 2010 |title=Election 2010: First hung parliament in UK for decades |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8667071.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511135305/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8667071.stm |archive-date=11 May 2012}}</ref> Brown was re-elected as MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath with 29,559 votes.<ref name="BBC 07-05-2010"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=7 May 2010 |title=General Election 2010&nbsp;– Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/election2010/results/constituency/840.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031202628/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/election2010/results/constituency/840.stm |archive-date=31 October 2012}}</ref>

===2010 government formation and resignation===
{{main|2010 United Kingdom government formation}}
{{further|2010 Labour Party leadership election (UK)}}
[[File:The Queen and Gordon Brown 11 May 2010 (7141493275).jpg|thumb|Brown tendering his resignation to [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] at Buckingham Palace]]
Brown announced on 10 May 2010 that he would stand down as Labour Leader, with a view to a successor being chosen before the next [[Labour Party Conference]] in September 2010.<ref name="resignation">{{Cite news |date=10 May 2010 |title=Gordon Brown 'stepping down as Labour leader' |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8672859.stm |url-status=live |access-date=10 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513013555/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8672859.stm |archive-date=13 May 2010}}</ref> The following day, negotiations between the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition government failed, and a [[Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement]] was reached. During the evening, Brown visited [[Buckingham Palace]] to tender his resignation as prime minister to [[Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II]] and to recommend that she invite the Leader of the Opposition, [[David Cameron]], to form a government.<ref name="PMRes">{{Cite news |date=11 May 2010 |title=Gordon Brown resigns as UK prime minister |work=BBC News |location=London |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8675913.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011070320/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8675913.stm |archive-date=11 October 2012}}</ref> He resigned as leader of the Labour Party with immediate effect.<ref name=PMRes/>

==Post-premiership (2010–present)==
===Return to the backbenches (2010–2015)===
[[File:British PMs 2011.png|thumb|Brown with fellow former prime ministers [[Tony Blair]] and Sir [[John Major]], Deputy Prime Minister [[Nick Clegg]] and Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] during U.S. president [[Barack Obama]]'s address to Parliament]]
On 13 May 2010, in his first public appearance since leaving 10 Downing Street, two days after resigning as prime minister and Leader of the Labour Party, Brown confirmed he intended to stay on in Parliament, serving as a Labour [[backbencher]], to serve the people of his [[Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath]] constituency. He continued to serve as the MP of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath until 2015.<ref name="BBC13May2010Backbencher">{{Cite news |date=13 May 2010 |title=Brown to remain as backbench MP |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8681018.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516150404/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8681018.stm |archive-date=16 May 2010}}</ref>

Towards the end of May 2010, Brown began writing ''[[Beyond the Crash]]'', completing it after 14 weeks. The book discusses the [[2008 financial crisis]] and Brown's recommendations for future co-ordinated global action.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lipsey |first=David |date=18 December 2010 |title=Beyond the Crash by Gordon Brown&nbsp;– review |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/18/beyond-crash-gordon-brown-review |url-status=live |access-date=10 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205125723/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/18/beyond-crash-gordon-brown-review |archive-date=5 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Gordon |title=Beyond the Crash: overcoming the first crisis of globalisation |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-85720-285-7 |location=London}}</ref>

He played a prominent role in the lead-up to, and the aftermath of, the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum]], campaigning for Scotland to stay in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 October 2014 |title=Hague and Brown clash over 'English votes for English laws' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-29606220 |url-status=live |access-date=14 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014153655/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-29606220 |archive-date=14 October 2014}}</ref> "Our vision for the future of Scotland – yes a Scottish parliament for fairness, battling for equality across the UK", he told voters in an impassioned speech on the eve of polling. "But our vision is bigger than that – at every point, particularly through our membership of the UK, to fight for what is our dream, what is our demand. A world not of a separate state, but a world of social justice people can believe in. What kind of message does Scotland send to the world if, tomorrow, we said we are going to give up on sharing, we are going to smash our partnership, we are going to abandon co-operation and we are going to throw the idea of solidarity into the dust. This is not the Scotland I know and recognise."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/17/gordon-brown-appeals-to-labour-voters-vote-no |title=Gordon Brown makes passionate appeal to Labour voters in final no rally &#124; Scottish independence |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London|authorlink=Nicholas Watt |first=Nicholas |last=Watt|date=17 September 2014 |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-date=13 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313231035/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/17/gordon-brown-appeals-to-labour-voters-vote-no |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J39bBV7CBJk |title=Gordon Brown's Better Together speech the day before the Scottish referendum |publisher=YouTube |date=17 September 2014 |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-date=12 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220312181842/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J39bBV7CBJk |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 1 December 2014, Brown announced that he would not be seeking re-election to parliament. He stood down at [[2015 United Kingdom general election|the general election in May 2015]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 December 2014 |title=Gordon Brown 'to announce he will stand down as MP' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30277709 |url-status=live |access-date=1 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141201150424/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30277709 |archive-date=1 December 2014}}</ref>

===IMF speculation===
[[File:Accelerating Infrastructure Development Gordon Brown (8412051140).jpg|thumb|right|190px|Brown, as UN Special Envoy for Global Education, addresses the [[World Economic Forum]], January 2013]]
In April 2011, media reports linked Brown with the role of managing director of the International Monetary Fund following the scheduled retirement of [[Dominique Strauss-Kahn]]. Brown's successor and Leader of the Opposition, [[Ed Miliband]], supported Brown for the role, while the prime minister, David Cameron, voiced opposition to this.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mulholland |first=Helene |date=19 April 2011 |title=Gordon Brown 'not most appropriate person' to head IMF, says Cameron |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/apr/19/gordon-brown-not-most-appropriate-imf-cameron |url-status=live |access-date=18 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420220527/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/apr/19/gordon-brown-not-most-appropriate-imf-cameron |archive-date=20 April 2011}}</ref> Following the arrest of Strauss-Kahn for alleged sexual assault in May 2011, and his subsequent resignation, these reports re-surfaced.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elliott |first=Larry |date=20 May 2011 |title=Gordon Brown makes IMF pitch as race to succeed Strauss-Kahn intensifies |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/may/20/gordon-brown-imf-strauss-kahn |url-status=live |access-date=18 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522072520/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/may/20/gordon-brown-imf-strauss-kahn |archive-date=22 May 2011}}</ref> Support for Brown among economists was mixed but British Government backing for his candidature was not forthcoming and instead supported [[Christine Lagarde]] – the eventual successful candidate – for the post.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 May 2011 |title=Brown 'Not Right' To Take Over IMF Top Job |publisher=Sky News |url=http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/15994318 |url-status=dead |access-date=14 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111233227/http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/15994318 |archive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kang |first=Cecilia |date=22 May 2011 |title=Germany, Britain back Lagarde to lead IMF |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/germany-britain-back-lagarde-to-lead-imf/2011/05/21/AFVrri8G_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=22 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518113911/http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/germany-britain-back-lagarde-to-lead-imf/2011/05/21/AFVrri8G_story.html |archive-date=18 May 2015}}</ref>

===Other appointments===

Sir [[Tim Berners-Lee]], who had worked with the government during Brown's premiership to publish government data on the internet in the [[data.gov.uk]] project, invited Brown to become a board director of the [[World Wide Web Foundation]] to "advise the Web Foundation on ways to involve disadvantaged communities and global leaders in the development of sustainable programs that connect humanity and affect positive change", and he was elected to the board of directors in September 2010.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 September 2010 |title=Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Joins World Wide Web Foundation's Board of Directors |url=http://www.webfoundation.org/2010/09/gordon-brown-joins-world-wide-web-foundation-board/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904201609/http://www.webfoundation.org/2010/09/gordon-brown-joins-world-wide-web-foundation-board/ |archive-date=4 September 2010 |publisher=[[World Wide Web Foundation]]}}</ref>

On 22 April 2011, it was announced that Brown would be taking on an unpaid advisory role at the [[World Economic Forum]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 April 2011 |title=Gordon Brown takes on World Economic Forum role |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13171942 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423035329/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13171942 |archive-date=23 April 2011}}</ref> Brown was also appointed as the inaugural 'Distinguished Leader in Residence' by [[New York University]] and took part in discussions and lectures relating to the [[2008 financial crisis]]<ref>{{Cite news| title=Former UK Prime Minister discusses the role of cities in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis |work=[[New York University]] |url=https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2011/april/former-uk-prime-minister-gordon-brown-discusses-the-role-of-cities-in-the-wake-of-the-2008-global-financial-crisis.html |date=6 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418085933/http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2011/04/06/former-uk-prime-minister-gordon-brown-discusses-the-role-of-cities-in-the-wake-of-the-2008-global-financial-crisis.html |archive-date=18 April 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> and globalisation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 December 2010 |title=Former UK Prime Minister on the Promise of Globalization |publisher=NYUWagner |url=http://wagner.nyu.edu/news/newsStory.php?id=696 |access-date=17 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131210532/http://wagner.nyu.edu/news/newsStory.php?id=696 |archive-date=31 January 2011}}</ref>

In July 2012, Brown was named by Secretary-General [[Ban Ki-moon]] as [[Special Envoy of the Secretary-General|United Nations Special Envoy]] for Global Education.<ref name=SpecialEnvoy>{{cite web |url=https://press.un.org/en/2012/sga1357.doc.htm |title=Secretary-General Appoints Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education |publisher=United Nations |date=13 July 2012 |accessdate=2 March 2025}}</ref><ref name=UNSE>{{cite web |url=https://educationenvoy.org/what-we-do/ |title=Gordon Brown |date=21 July 2013 |publisher=Office of the UN Special Envoy for Global Education |accessdate=1 March 2025}}</ref> He chaired the [[International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity]]. The position is unpaid.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ramesh |first=Randeep |date=13 July 2012 |title=Gordon Brown to become UN special envoy for schoolchildren |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jul/13/gordon-brown-un-envoy-children |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714123716/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jul/13/gordon-brown-un-envoy-children |archive-date=14 July 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Boris Johnson with Gordon Brown in London - 2018 (27295267767).jpg|thumb|left|Brown with Foreign Secretary [[Boris Johnson]], May 2018]]

In December 2015, Brown took his first large-scale role in the private sector since standing down as prime minister in 2010, becoming an advisor to [[PIMCO]]. Any money earned from the role is to go to the Gordon and Sarah Brown Foundation to support charitable work.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Foley |first=Stephen |date=8 December 2015 |title=Former UK PM Gordon Brown to join Pimco as adviser |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3cae4d6e-9cfd-11e5-b45d-4812f209f861 |url-status=live |access-date=10 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112142208/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3cae4d6e-9cfd-11e5-b45d-4812f209f861.html |archive-date=12 January 2016 |issn=0307-1766}}</ref>

On 7 November 2017, Brown released his memoir ''[[My Life, Our Times]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=My Life, Our Times by Gordon Brown {{!}} Waterstones |url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/my-life-our-times/gordon-brown/9781784707460 |access-date=2 April 2019 |website=waterstones.com |language=en |archive-date=2 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402175546/https://www.waterstones.com/book/my-life-our-times/gordon-brown/9781784707460 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2020, Brown was a co-author of a letter to the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' highlighting the importance of EU funding in the fight against [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID-19]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fernando |first1=Benjamin |last2=Brown |first2=Gordon |last3=Thomas |first3=Emily |last4=Head |first4=Michael |last5=Nurse |first5=Paul |last6=Rees |first6=Martin |date=22 September 2020 |title=COVID-19 shows UK–EU collaborations are irreplaceable |journal=Nature |volume=586 |issue=7828 |page=200 |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-02687-6 |pmid=32963368 |bibcode=2020Natur.586..200F |doi-access=free |issn = 0028-0836}}</ref> The letter was organised by [[Scientists for Labour]], an organisation of which he is a patron.

On 10 June 2021, Brown released the book ''Seven Ways to Change the World: How To Fix The Most Pressing Problems We Face.'' The book features Brown's forensic examination of seven areas where global reform and action are essential.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 June 2021 |title=Book review: Seven Ways To Change The World, by Gordon Brown |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/book-review-seven-ways-to-change-the-world-by-gordon-brown-3269427 |access-date=2 November 2022 |website=www.scotsman.com |language=en |archive-date=2 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102125734/https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/book-review-seven-ways-to-change-the-world-by-gordon-brown-3269427 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2021, Brown was appointed by the [[World Health Organization]] as [[WHO Goodwill Ambassador|Goodwill Ambassador]] for Global Health Financing.<ref name="who.int">{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/news/item/20-09-2021-former-u.k.-prime-minister-gordon-brown-appointed-world-health-organization-ambassador-for-global-health-financing |title=Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed WHO Ambassador for Global Health Financing |publisher=World Health Organization |date=20 September 2021 |accessdate=2 March 2025}}</ref><ref name=WHOGA>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/about/collaboration/goodwill-ambassadors |title=WHO Goodwill Ambassadors |publisher=World Health Organization |accessdate=1 March 2025}}</ref>

On 5 December 2022, having led development of a Labour party blueprint on [[Constitutional reform in the United Kingdom|constitutional reform]], Brown announced the publication of these proposals alongside future Labour prime minister [[Keir Starmer]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Britton |first=Paul |date=5 December 2022 |title=Keir Starmer and Gordon Brown reveal big plans for Britain |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/keir-starmer-gordon-brown-reveal-25676091 |access-date=5 January 2023 |website=Manchester Evening News |language=en |archive-date=5 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105181455/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/keir-starmer-gordon-brown-reveal-25676091 |url-status=live }}</ref> These proposals included plans for the replacement of the [[House of Lords]] with a "Assembly of the Nations and Regions", electing around 200 members on a different electoral cycle to that of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9700/CBP-9700.pdf |title=House of Lords Reform in the 2019 Parliament |date=6 January 2023 |publisher=[[House of Commons Library]] |location=London |pages=18 |chapter=4.2: Labour plans, December 2022 |access-date=2 January 2024 |archive-date=2 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102235826/https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9700/CBP-9700.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Other measures include the "strengthening of the [[Sewel Convention]]" such that the ability of devolved administrations to veto UK Parliament legislation affecting devolved issues is "constitutionally protected", plans to grant the Scottish Parliament greater powers over foreign affairs "so that Scotland could sign up to international groups or agreements within devolved areas" such as [[Erasmus Programme|Erasmus]], and plans to transfer powers to English regions and local mayors.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Commission-on-the-UKs-Future.pdf |title=A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy – Report of the Commission on the UK's Future |date=5 December 2022 |publisher=Labour Party |access-date=2 January 2024 |archive-date=26 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231226195054/https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Commission-on-the-UKs-Future.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bbc-2022-constitution">{{Cite news |date=5 December 2022 |title=Gordon Brown: Labour plan would make UK work for Scotland |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63853652 |access-date=2 January 2024 |archive-date=2 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102235825/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63853652 |url-status=live }}</ref> The proposals were criticised by the [[Scottish National Party|SNP]] who described them as "underwhelming",<ref name="bbc-2022-constitution"/> and the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] [[Lindsay Hoyle]] who described plans to replace the Lords with an elected chamber as weakening the supremacy of the Commons.<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 December 2022 |title=Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle opposes Labour's Lords plans |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64053545 |access-date=2 January 2024 |archive-date=2 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102235827/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-64053545 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following Labour's landslide victory in the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]], Brown congratulated Starmer on his victory, saying: "My best wishes to all the new Labour MPs and, above all, I congratulate the British people who have chosen not just change, but hope."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keir Starmer has summed it up "today we enter the sunlight of hope". Congratulations to Keir and all @UKLabour for a resounding election victory. My best wishes to all the new Labour MPs and, above all, I congratulate the British people who have chosen not just change, but hope. |url=https://x.com/GordonBrown/status/1809165433687232538 |website=Twitter}}</ref>

On 28 September 2023, Brown released the book ''Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World,'' which he co-wrote with [[Michael Spence]] and [[Mohamed El-Erian|Mohamed A. El-Erian]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Slobodian |first=Quinn |date=11 October 2023 |title=Permacrisis by Gordon Brown, Mohamed El-Erian and Michael Spence review – road to nowhere |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/oct/11/permacrisis-by-gordon-brown-mohamed-el-erian-and-michael-spence-review-road-to-nowhere |access-date=7 July 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>  In 2024 Brown co-authored a pamphlet on [[child poverty]] demanding a multibillion-pound package to solve what he dubbed 'a social crisis'.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/14/british-children-poverty-tories-gordon-brown|title=Millions of British children born since 2010 have only known poverty. My £3bn plan would give them hope|work=The Guardian|date=14 May 2024|accessdate=21 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/14/children-austerity-generation-need-rescue-plan-gordon-brown-sure-start|title=Children of austerity need a rescue plan, Gordon Brown says|first=Patrick|last=Butler|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=14 May 2024|accessdate=21 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/18/child-poverty-uk-scandal-britain-charities-families|title='People haven't woken up to the scale of this': Gordon Brown on the UK's child poverty scandal|first=Michael|last=Savage|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=18 May 2024|accessdate=21 May 2024}}</ref>

In November 2024, Brown wrote an article in opposition to the [[Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill]] arguing that the UK needed to improve its palliative care provision instead of legalising assisted dying.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Gordon |date=22 November 2024 |title=Spending time with people in their final days showed me that we need not assisted dying, but better end-of-life care |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/22/assisted-dying-palliative-care-end-of-life |work=[[The Guardian]]|accessdate=31 October 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250916143556/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/22/assisted-dying-palliative-care-end-of-life|archive-date=16 September 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Gordon and Sarah Brown.jpg|right|thumb|[[Sarah Jane Brown|Sarah Brown]] attending one of her husband's speeches, September 2009]]
Brown's early girlfriends included journalist [[Sheena McDonald]] and [[Margareta of Romania|Princess Margarita]], the eldest daughter of exiled [[King Michael of Romania]].<ref name="GBStory" /> At the age of 49, Brown married [[Sarah Macaulay]] in a private ceremony at his home in [[North Queensferry]], Fife, on 3 August 2000.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 August 2000 |title=Gordon and Sarah wed at home |work=BBC News |location=London |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/864413.stm |url-status=live |access-date=23 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103173858/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/864413.stm |archive-date=3 January 2008}}</ref> A daughter, Jennifer Jane, was born prematurely on 28 December 2001; she died on 7 January 2002, one day after experiencing a [[brain haemorrhage]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cramb |first1=Auslan |last2=Peterkin |first2=Tom |date=8 January 2002 |title=Jennifer dies in their arms |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1380699/Jennifer-dies-in-their-arms.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301210857/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1380699/Jennifer-dies-in-their-arms.html |archive-date=1 March 2009}}</ref> The couple have two sons, John Macaulay (born 17 October 2003)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morrison |first=Jenny |date=23 April 2004 |title=Chancellor's daughter remembered at christening service |work=The Scotsman |location=Edinburgh |url=http://news.scotsman.com/gordonbrownsfamily/Chancellors-daughter-remembered-at-christening.2522714.jp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109125644/http://news.scotsman.com/gordonbrownsfamily/Chancellors-daughter-remembered-at-christening.2522714.jp |archive-date=9 January 2009}}</ref> and (James) Fraser (born on 18 July 2006). In November 2006, Fraser was diagnosed with [[cystic fibrosis]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 November 2006 |title=Brown's son has cystic fibrosis |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6157891.stm |url-status=live |access-date=13 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503072016/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6157891.stm |archive-date=3 May 2010}}</ref> ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' had learned of the situation in 2006 and published the story. In 2011, Brown stated he had wanted the details of his son's condition kept private and that the publication had left him "in tears".<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 July 2011 |title=Gordon Brown attacks News International tactics |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14119225 |url-status=live |access-date=12 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712112134/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14119225 |archive-date=12 July 2011}}</ref> The ''Sun'' said they approached Brown and that discussion occurred with his colleagues who provided quotes to use in the article.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 July 2011 |title=Guardian apologises to the Sun over Gordon Brown story |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14164756 |url-status=live |access-date=17 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716221206/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14164756 |archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

Sarah Brown rarely made official appearances, whether with or without her husband.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Pierce |first1=Andrew |last2=Cramb |first2=Auslan |date=12 May 2007 |title=Wife will seek to stay out of the limelight |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1551301/Wife-will-seek-to-stay-out-of-the-limelight.html |url-status=live |access-date=10 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207180408/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1551301/Wife-will-seek-to-stay-out-of-the-limelight.html |archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref> She is patron of several charities and has written articles for national newspapers related to this.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Sarah |author-link=Sarah Jane Brown |date=11 November 2006 |title=Why I want you to get behind Maggie's |work=The Scotsman |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/maggiescentre/Why-I-want-you-to.2825970.jp |url-status=live |access-date=25 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206004133/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/maggiescentre/Why-I-want-you-to.2825970.jp |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> At the 2008 Labour Party Conference, Sarah caused surprise by taking to the stage to introduce her husband for his keynote address.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 September 2008 |title=Sarah Brown steps into spotlight |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7632115.stm |url-status=live |access-date=30 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926034045/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7632115.stm |archive-date=26 September 2008}}</ref> After that, her public profile increased.<ref name="BBC News 17 July 2009">{{Cite news |last=Vaidyanathan |first=Rajini |date=17 July 2009 |title=Glamorous Life of the PM's Wife |work=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8155377.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720080104/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8155377.stm |archive-date=20 July 2009}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=July 2020}}

Brown has two brothers, John Brown and [[Andrew Brown (media strategist)|Andrew Brown]]. Andrew has been Head of Media Relations in the UK for the French-owned utility company [[EDF Energy]] since 2004.<ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{Cite news |last=Terry Macalister |date=11 July 2006 |title=The powerful business of promoting a nuclear future |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/jul/11/greenpolitics.nuclearindustry1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206085522/http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2006/jul/11/greenpolitics.nuclearindustry1 |archive-date=6 December 2008}}</ref> Brown is also the brother-in-law of environmental journalist [[Clare Rewcastle Brown]]; he wrote a piece for ''The Independent'' supporting Clare's current environmental efforts on behalf of [[Sarawak]].<ref name="Independent">{{Cite news |date=10 March 2011 |title=Fight for the Borneo rainforest: Gordon Brown celebrates the role of journalist Clare Rewcastle |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/fight-for-the-borneo-rainforest-gordon-brown-celebrates-the-role-of-journalist-clare-rewcastle-2237427.html |url-status=live |access-date=13 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312051457/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/fight-for-the-borneo-rainforest-gordon-brown-celebrates-the-role-of-journalist-clare-rewcastle-2237427.html |archive-date=12 March 2011}}</ref>

While prime minister, Brown spent some of his spare time at [[Chequers]], the house often being filled with friends. The Browns have entertained local dignitaries like Sir [[Leonard Figg]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hipwell |first=Deirdre |date=24 July 2008 |title=Alice Thomson: ''No PM, However Dour, can Resist the Charms of a Stately Pile'' |work=The Sunday Times |location=London |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4386767.ece |access-date=2 April 2010 |archive-date=4 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204035759/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> Brown is also a friend of [[Harry Potter]] author [[J. K. Rowling]], who says of Brown: "I know him as affable, funny and gregarious, a great listener, a kind and loyal friend."<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=30 April 2009 |title=Gordon Brown&nbsp;– The 2009 Time 100 |magazine=Time |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893847_1894201,00.html |url-status=dead |access-date=1 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503144803/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0%2C28804%2C1894410_1893847_1894201%2C00.html |archive-date=3 May 2009}}</ref>

Brown is a supporter of the NHS, owing partly to both the experimental surgery that saved the sight in his right eye after his retina became detached, and the care he and Sarah Brown received when their premature firstborn baby died.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Gordon Brown's loss of an eye informs his view of the world |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 October 2009 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/11/gordon-brown-eye-check-questions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228234013/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/11/gordon-brown-eye-check-questions |archive-date=28 December 2013}}</ref>

Brown is a supporter of Kirkcaldy-based football club [[Raith Rovers]] and has written articles about his relationship with the club.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Gordon |date=6 August 2000 |title=My team: Raith Rovers |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/aug/06/newsstory.sport20 |url-status=live |access-date=2 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903013531/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/aug/06/newsstory.sport20 |archive-date=3 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Aidan |date=5 April 2014 |title=Gordon Brown, Raith Rovers' most famous fan |work=The Scotsman |url=https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/raith-rovers/gordon-brown-raith-rovers-most-famous-fan-1-3366228 |url-status=dead |access-date=2 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903082114/https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/raith-rovers/gordon-brown-raith-rovers-most-famous-fan-1-3366228 |archive-date=3 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=9 May 2009 |title=Gordon Brown: Holding true to my Raith |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/scottish/gordon-brown-holding-true-to-my-raith-1681757.html |url-status=live |access-date=2 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903014937/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/scottish/gordon-brown-holding-true-to-my-raith-1681757.html |archive-date=3 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Gordon |date=9 May 2009 |title=Exclusive: Prime Minister Gordon Brown on missing Raith Rovers' league win |work=Daily Record |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/exclusive-prime-minister-gordon-brown-1022039 |url-status=live |access-date=2 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903045714/https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/exclusive-prime-minister-gordon-brown-1022039 |archive-date=3 September 2018}}</ref>

===Religion===
A son of a [[Church of Scotland]] [[minister (Christianity)|minister]], Brown has talked about what he calls his "[[moral compass]]"<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 June 2007 |title=Gordon Brown: 'I joined this party as a teenager&nbsp;... Its values are my moral compass' |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gordon-brown-i-joined-this-party-as-a-teenager--its-values-are-my-moral-compass-454560.html |url-status=dead |access-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118184720/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gordon-brown-i-joined-this-party-as-a-teenager--its-values-are-my-moral-compass-454560.html |archive-date=18 January 2012}}</ref> and of his parents being his "inspiration".<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 May 2007 |title=Gordon Brown: Leadership speech in full |publisher=ePolitix.com |url=http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/gordon-brown-leadership-speech-in-full/?no_cache=1 |url-status=usurped |access-date=26 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128060123/http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/gordon-brown-leadership-speech-in-full/?no_cache=1 |archive-date=28 January 2012}}</ref> According to ''The Guardian'', he is a member of the Church of Scotland.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wintour |first=Patrick |date=24 September 2009 |title=Pope accepts Gordon Brown's invitation to visit Britain next year |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/23/pope-benedict-to-visit-britain |url-status=live |access-date=24 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926172833/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/23/pope-benedict-to-visit-britain |archive-date=26 September 2009}}</ref>

== Depictions ==
''[[The Deal (2003 film)|The Deal]]'', a 2003 television film, followed [[Tony Blair]]'s rise to power, and his friendship and rivalry with Brown, played by [[David Morrissey]]. In ''[[The Trial of Tony Blair]]'' (2007), Brown was played by [[Peter Mullan]], and in the [[Channel 4]] television film ''[[Coalition (film)|Coalition]]'' (2015), he was portrayed by [[Ian Grieve]].

==Honours==
[[File:Gordon Brown at University of Huddersfield.jpg|thumb|Brown delivers the [[Harold Wilson]] memorial lecture at the [[University of Huddersfield]] in 2018]]

* [[Doctor of the University]] (DUniv) from [[Brunel University]] (1996)<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Graduates |url=https://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/people/Honorary-graduates |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120221308/https://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/people/Honorary-graduates |archive-date=20 November 2018 |access-date=4 December 2018 |publisher=Brunel.ac.uk}}</ref>
* [[Doctor Honoris Causa]] (HonDr) from [[University of Edinburgh]] (2003)<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Graduates and Degrees: James Gordon Brown |url=http://www.scripts.sasg.ed.ac.uk/registry/Graduations/GraduateDetails.cfm?ID=196 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127225404/http://www.scripts.sasg.ed.ac.uk/registry/Graduations/GraduateDetails.cfm?ID=196 |archive-date=27 January 2018 |access-date=19 December 2016 |publisher=The University of Edinburgh}}</ref>
* Honorary [[Doctor of Laws]] (LLD) from [[Robert Gordon University]] (2003)<ref>{{cite web |title=List of Honorary Graduates/Graduands (pdf) |url=http://www.rgu.ac.uk/file/honorary-degrees-list-of-recipients-pdf-155kb |access-date=19 December 2016 |publisher=Robert Gordon University Aberdeen |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926134815/https://www3.rgu.ac.uk/download.cfm?downloadfile=879BFEF0-25A3-11E1-BECE000D609CAA9F&typename=dmFile&fieldname=filename |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Honorary [[Doctor of Humane Letters]] (DHL) from [[New York University]] (2005)<ref>{{cite web |title=Alan Greenspan and Gordon Brown Receive Honorary Degrees From NYU, December 14, 2005 |url=https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2005/december/alan_greenspan_and_gordon.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127225403/https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2005/december/alan_greenspan_and_gordon.html |archive-date=27 January 2018 |access-date=19 December 2016 |publisher=New York University}}</ref>
* Honorary [[Doctor of Civil Law]] (DCL) from [[Newcastle University]] (2007)<ref>{{cite web |title=Current Honorary Graduates |url=http://www.ncl.ac.uk/congregations/ceremonies/honorary/current_hongrad.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310181031/http://www.ncl.ac.uk/congregations/ceremonies/honorary/current_hongrad.php |archive-date=10 March 2008 |access-date=19 December 2016 |publisher=Newcastle University}}</ref>
* Honorary [[Doctor of Letters]] (DLitt) from [[University of Delhi]] (2008)<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=British Premier Gordon Brown conferred honorary degree by DU |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/british-premier-gordon-brown-conferred-honorary-degree-by-du/537217 |magazine=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127225404/https://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/british-premier-gordon-brown-conferred-honorary-degree-by-du/537217 |archive-date=27 January 2018 |access-date=19 December 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Doctor of the University]] (DUniv) from [[University of Glasgow]] (2015)<ref>{{cite web |title=University awards honorary degree to Gordon Brown |url=http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_404463_en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220235809/http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_404463_en.html |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=19 December 2016 |publisher=University of Glasgow}}</ref>
* Elected an [[Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (HonFRSE; 2018)<ref name="HonFRSE">{{cite web |title=Rt Hon Dr Gordon Brown HonFRSE |url=https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/gordon-brown-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314181407/https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/gordon-brown-2/ |archive-date=14 March 2018 |access-date=14 March 2018 |publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh}}</ref>

In March 2009, Brown was named [[Appeal of Conscience Foundation#World Statesman of the Year|World Statesman of the Year]] by the [[Appeal of Conscience Foundation]], an American organisation 'dedicated to promoting peace, human rights and understanding between [[Religion|religious faiths]]'. The award was presented by [[Rabbi]] [[Arthur Schneier]] who praised Brown's "[[compassionate leadership]] in dealing with the challenging issues facing humanity, his commitment to freedom, human dignity and the environment, and for the major role he has played in helping to stabilise the world's financial system".<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 March 2009 |title=US foundation names Gordon Brown world statesman of the year |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/mar/03/brown-world-statesman |url-status=live |access-date=15 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308044322/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/03/brown-world-statesman |archive-date=8 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=ACF to Honor British Prime Minister Gordon Brown with 2009 World Statesman Award |publisher=Appeal of Conscience Foundation |url=http://www.appealofconscience.org/news/article.cfm?id=100195 |access-date=15 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307191550/http://www.appealofconscience.org/news/article.cfm?id=100195 |archive-date=7 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=22 September 2009 |title=The Right Honorable Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland receives Appeal of Conscience Foundation 2009 World Statesman Award |publisher=[[Appeal of Conscience Foundation]] |url=http://www.appealofconscience.org/news/article.cfm?id=100222 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201043946/http://www.appealofconscience.org/news/article.cfm?id=100222 |archive-date=1 December 2009}}</ref>

Brown has, on six occasions, been honoured in the [[Scottish Politician of the Year]] awards organised by ''[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]'' newspaper. In 1999, 2000, 2007 and 2014, he won the award in the Best Scot at Westminster category. He won the Lifetime Achievement Award/Outstanding Political Achievement category in 2011. And in 2020, he was designated "best of the best" in the Best Scot at Westminster category.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gordon |first=Tom |title=Still fighting for Scotland: Why Brown is the best of Westminster |newspaper=The Herald |issue=14 December 2020 |page=9 |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18942394.gordon-brown-named-best-scot-westminster-heralds-panel-judges/ |access-date=15 December 2020 |archive-date=14 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214145103/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18942394.gordon-brown-named-best-scot-westminster-heralds-panel-judges/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[2024 Birthday Honours]], Brown was appointed [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] (CH) for public and charitable services in the UK and abroad.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=64423 |date=15 June 2024 |page=B5 |supp=y}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=14 June 2024 |title=Ex-PM Gordon Brown and football legend Graeme Souness in King's Honours list |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgll06r47dvo |access-date=15 June 2024 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Publications==
*{{Cite book |title=The Red Paper on Scotland |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Gordon |publisher=EUSPB |location=Edinburgh |year=1975 |isbn=0-9501890-73}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Drucker |first1=H. M. |last2=Brown |first2=Gordon |author-link=Henry Drucker |title=The Politics of Nationalism and Devolution |publisher=Longman |location=London |year=1980 |isbn=9780582295209}}
*{{Cite thesis |type=PhD |title=The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland 1918–1929: The Politics of Five Elections |publisher=University of Edinburgh |location=Edinburgh |year=1982 |hdl=1842/7136}}
*{{Cite book |title=Maxton: A Biography |publisher=[[Mainstream Publishing|Mainstream]] |year=1986 |isbn=978-1-85158-042-2}}
*{{Cite book |title=Scotland: The Real Divide |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Gordon |editor2-last=Cook |editor2-first=Robin |editor2-link=Robin Cook |publisher=Mainstream Publishing |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-906391-18-1}}
*{{Cite book |title=Where There's Greed: Margaret Thatcher and the Betrayal of Britain's Future |publisher=Mainstream |year=1989 |isbn=978-1-85158-228-0}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Gordon |last2=Naughtie |first2=James |author2-link=James Naughtie |title=John Smith: Life and Soul of the Party |publisher=Mainstream |location=Edinburgh |year=1994 |isbn=1-85158-692-X}}
*{{Cite book |title=Values, Visions and Voices: An Anthology of Socialism |editor1-last=Brown |editor1-first=Gordon |editor-last2=Wright |editor2-first=Tony |editor2-link=Tony Wright (Cannock Chase MP) |publisher=Mainstream |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-85158-731-5}}
*{{Cite book |title=Moving Britain Forward: selected speeches, 1997-2006 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |location=London |year=2006 |isbn=9780747588382}}
*{{Cite book |title=Courage: Eight Portraits |title-link=Courage: Eight Portraits |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7475-6532-1}}
*{{Cite book |title=[[Britain's Everyday Heroes]] |publisher=Mainstream |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84596-307-1}}
*{{Cite book |title=Wartime Courage: stories of extraordinary courage by exceptional men and women in World War Two |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |year=2009 |isbn=9780747597414}}
*{{Cite book |title=The Change We Choose: Speeches 2007–2009 |title-link=The Change We Choose |publisher=Mainstream |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84596-632-4}}
*{{Cite book |title=Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalisation |title-link=Beyond the Crash |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=2010}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Gordon |last2=Harvie |first2=Chris |author2-link=Christopher Harvie |title=A Voter's Guide to the Scottish Assembly |publisher=David Watt & Sons |date=May 2015 |orig-year=1979}}
*''Keir Hardie: Labour's first leader''. [[BBC Radio Scotland]] programme. September 2015.<ref name="BBC Radio Scotland 9 September 2015">{{Cite episode |title=Keir Hardie: Labour's first leader |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b068xnly |url-status=live |series=N/A |station=[[BBC Radio Scotland]] |credits=Presenter: Gordon Brown |airdate=9 September 2015 |access-date=10 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914034233/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b068xnly |archive-date=14 September 2015}}</ref>
*{{Cite book |title=Britain: Leading, Not Leaving: the patriotic case for remaining in Europe |publisher=Deerpark Press |location=Selkirk, UK |year=2016 |isbn=9780954197964}}
*{{Cite book |title=[[My Life, Our Times]] |publisher=Bodley Head |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-84792-497-1}}
*{{Cite book |title=Seven Ways to Change the World: How To Fix The Most Pressing Problems We Face |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=[S.l.] |date=2021 |isbn=978-1-3985-0361-8 |oclc=1223012333}}
*{{Cite book |title=Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World |last1=Brown |first1=Gordon |last2=El-Erian |first2=Mohamed |author2-link=Mohamed A. El-Erian |last3=Spence |first3=Michael |author3-link=Michael Spence |publisher=Simon & Schuster UK |year=2023 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/1397573967 |isbn=978-1398525610}}

==See also==
{{portal bar|United Kingdom|Biography|Politics}}
* [[Brownism]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last = Jenkins | first = Simon | author-link = Simon Jenkins |title =Thatcher and Sons: A Revolution in Three Acts| year = 2006 | location = London | publisher = Penguin Books | isbn = 978-0-14-100624-6 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Pym |first1=Hugh |author-link=Hugh Pym |last2=Kochan |first2=Nick |title=Gordon Brown the First Year in Power |url=https://archive.org/details/gordonbrownfirst0000pymh |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7475-3701-4}}
* {{cite book | last = Radice | first = Giles | author-link = Giles Radice |title =Trio: Inside the Blair, Brown, Mandelson Project| year = 2010 | location = London | publisher = IB Tauris | isbn = 978-1-84885-445-1 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Rawnsley |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Rawnsley |title=Servants of the people:The inside story of New Labour |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-14-027850-7}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rosen |first=Greg |title=Old Labour to New:The Dreams that Inspired, the Battles that Divided |publisher=Politicos Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84275-045-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Routledge |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Routledge |title=Bumper Book of British Lefties |publisher=Politicos Publishing |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-84275-064-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Simon |title=Boom and Bust: The Politics and Legacy of Gordon Brown |publisher=Oneworld Publications |year=2009 |isbn=978-1851686643}}
* {{Cite book |last=Richards |first=Steve |author-link=Steve Richards |title=Whatever it Takes: The Real Story of Gordon Brown and New Labour |url=https://archive.org/details/whateverittakesr0000rich |url-access=registration |publisher=Fourth Estate |year=2010 |isbn=978-0007320325}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hughes |first=Colin |title=What Went Wrong, Gordon Brown?: How the dream job turned sour |publisher=The Guardian Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0852652190}}
* {{Cite book |last=Seldon |first=Anthony |url=https://archive.org/details/brownat100000seld |title=Brown at 10 |publisher=Biteback |year=2010 |isbn=978-1849540698 |author-link=Anthony Seldon |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=McBride |first=Damian |title=Power Trip: a Decade of Policy, Plots and Spin |publisher=Biteback |year=2013 |author-link=Damian McBride}}

===Biographies===
* {{Cite book |last=Bower |first=Tom |title=Gordon Brown |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-00-717540-6 |location=London |author-link=Tom Bower}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jefferys |first=Kevin |title=Labour forces from Ernie Bevin to Gordon Brown |publisher=IB Taurus Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-4175-1633-9}}
* {{Cite book |last=Keegan |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/prudenceofmrgord0000keeg |title=The Prudence of Mr. Gordon Brown |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-470-84697-1 |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last=Naughtie |first=James |author-link=James Naughtie |title=The Rivals: The Intimate Story of a Political Marriage |url=https://archive.org/details/rivalsintimatest0000naug |url-access=registration |publisher=Fourth Estate |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-84115-473-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Peston |first=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/brownsbritain0000pest |title=Brown's Britain: How Gordon Runs the Show |publisher=Short Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-904095-67-5 |author-link=Robert Peston |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |title=Dictionary of Labour Biography |editor-last=Rosen |editor-first=Greg |publisher=Methuen |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-902301-18-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Routledge |first=Paul |title=Gordon Brown: The Biography |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-684-81954-9}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|b=no|s=Author:Gordon Brown|wikt=no|v=no|n=no|species=no|voy=no}}

* [http://www.number10.gov.uk/past-prime-ministers/gordon-brown Gordon Brown] ''Official government profile''
* [http://www.gordonandsarahbrown.com/ Official website of the Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown]
* {{Twitter}}{{UK MP links|parliament=mr-gordon-brown/591|hansard=mr-gordon-brown|guardian=644/gordon-brown|publicwhip=Gordon_Brown|theywork=gordon_brown|record=Gordon-Brown/Kirkcaldy-and-Cowdenbeath/98|bbc=25779.stm|journalisted=gordon-brown}}
* [https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9437783/Gordon-Brown Gordon Brown] at ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4177281.stm Tour diary: Gordon Brown in Africa] BBC News, January 2005 trip about his 'Marshall plan for Africa'
* {{Guardian topic}}
* {{New York Times topic|people/b/gordon_brown}}
* {{TED speaker}}
* {{C-SPAN|14361}}
* {{Charlie Rose view|1223}}
* {{NPG name}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
'''Speeches'''
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110423185654/http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/gordon-brown-leadership-acceptance-speech-in-full-1/ Transcript of Gordon Brown's acceptance speech]}} ePolitix, 17 May 2007
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110423185136/http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/gordon-brown-leadership-acceptance-speech-in-full/ Transcript of first speech as Labour Party Leader]}} ePolitix, 24 June 2007
* [https://www.un.org/ga/63/generaldebate/uk.shtml Address to the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly] September 2008
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100423201451/http://www.epolitix.com/latestnews/article-detail/newsarticle/speech-in-full-gordon-brown/ Manifesto speech transcript]}} ePolitix, 12 April 2010

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{{Gordon Brown}}
{{Navboxes||title= Other Gordon Brown navigational boxes|list1=
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{{Commission for Africa}}
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