Gordon Brown

Scottish politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (known as Dunfermline East until 2005) from 1983 to 2015. Brown is the most recent Labour politician as well as the most recent Scottish politician to hold the office of prime minister.

The second of three boys whose dad was a minister, young Gordon formed political opinions early, having been influenced by the poverty he witnessed on the streets of Glasgow as he was growing up. Naturally athletic, he was an avid player of football. A head kick during a rugby game resulted in four surgeries and loss of sight in his left eye. During recovery he spent a lot of time listening to the radio, following political developments, and firming up his views.

Brown entered Edinburgh University at the age of 16 and graduated when he was 21, subsequently earning his doctorate degree. He began his career in education, first as Rector of Edinburgh University and then lecturer for that institution and Caledonian University. He followed up with a short stint as a Scottish TV researcher from 1980-1983. In 1983 he made his second bid for a seat in Parliament, this time successfully. He has remained in politics ever since, representing his Scottish constituencies.

In the mid-1990s, he wanted to be the next Labour Leader but was upstaged in 1997 by his friend and former housemate, Tony Blair. They initially worked well together to define their new Labour party, with Brown writing some of Blair's early campaign speeches and working as the junior partner.

In 1997 Brown rose to the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer for the Labour Party Government when Blair became Prime Minister. He was seen as somewhat bookish, in command of statistics to support his ideas, tough-minded, sometimes moody and introspective.