| Name |
James
Gordon Brown |
| Nick
name |
Flash
Gordon |
| Profession |
Politician |
| Native
place |
Glasgow,
Scotland,
United
Kingdom |
| Date
of Birth |
20 February 1951
|
| Nationality |
British |
| School |
Kirkcaldy High School,
|
| Education |
Doctorate from Edinburgh
University |
| Family |
Father:
Rev. John Ebenezer
Brown
Mother: Elizabeth
Wife: Sarah Macaulay
Sons: John Brown and James Fraser Brown
|
| Political
Party |
Labour |
| Prime
Minister of England |
From June 27, 2007
succeeding Tony
Blair |
| His
Thesis |
The Labour Party
and Political Change in Scotland 1918-29.
|
| Inspiration |
His parents were
the inspiration for his career in politics and
the source of his "moral compass". |
| Brown's
policies |
Iraq:
has pledged to reduce number of troop when possible
US: is likely to have a slightly cooler
approach
Europe: Still no to Euro currency
Economy: cuts in the headline corporation
and income tax rates from next year
Security: there must be a balance between
defending Britain's security and protecting civil
liberties.
Euro: "I didn't support entry to
the Euro, not because I'm against it in principle
but because I didn't think it was economically
right for Britain." |
| Marriage |
* Married Sarah
on Aug. 3,2000 in Fife, Scotland, with close family
and friends
* Met his future wife when she was organizing
Labour party events. |
| Tony
Blair |
"I hope we'll
remain friends for a very long time. We first
met about 25 years ago. We shared an office for
quite a long time. We talked through all the issues
that were relevant to the creation of New Labour.
Every political relationship undergoes ups and
downs but there's no time in modern British history
where you've had the same Chancellor and the same
Prime Minister for 10 years. And so it's been
quite a unique political partnership and I will
always feel honored to have served under his leadership."
|
| Success
as Chancellor of Exchequer |
* froze income taxes
and increased government expenditures.
* pushed for the Bank of England's independence,
credited for Britain's steady economic boom since
World War II. |
| First
romance |
with an exiled
Romanian Princess, Margarita du Romaine who was
a god-daughter of Prince Philip and 81st
in line to the British throne. |
| Also
dated |
* TV journalist
Sheena Macdonald
* Edinburgh lawyer Marion Caldwell |
| As
a person |
Very hardworking,
known to take serious reading on holidays.
|
| Management
style |
"Stalinist"
management style |
| Favorite
phrase |
'West has a duty'
to help the world's poor. |
| Favouite
sports |
Football, Tennis
|
| Eye
sight |
Blind in his left
eye. He was diagnosed with a detached retina -
thought to be the result of being kicked in the
head during an end of term rugby match at Kirkcaldy
High. |
| Academics |
* he was sent to
Kirkcaldy High School at the age of 10, where
he and fellow members of the "e-stream" were taught
in separate classes as part of an experiment in
academic fast-tracking.
* sat his Highers, the Scottish equivalent of
A-levels, two years early and was named the "Dux",
or leading scholar of his year.
* At the age of 16, he had joined his older brother
John at Edinburgh University, the youngest fresher
there since 1945 and also making him one of only
four university educated Prime Ministers who did
not attend Oxford or Cambridge
* Brown received honorary degrees from the University
of Edinburgh in 2003 and Newcastle University
in 2007 (DCL) |
| Admires |
Edith Cavell
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Raoul Wallenberg
Martin Luther King,
Robert Kennedy
Nelson Mandela,
Dame Cicely Saunders
Aung San Suu Kyi |
| Blair
Brown pact |
* Gordon Brown
would not stand in the Labour Party leadership
election, effectively giving
Blair a clear run, and letting him lead the
Labour Party in the 1997 general election.
* If
Blair acquired the job of Prime Minister,
he would stay in the job for an agreed period
of time. He would then resign and hand the job
over to Brown
|
| Path
to 10, Downing street |
1972: Rector, Edinburgh
University
1975: Temporary lecturer
1976: Politics lecturer, Glasgow College of Technology
1980: Television journalist, STV current affairs
1983: Labour MP, Dunfermline East
1985: Opposition front bench trade and industry
spokesman
1987: Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury
1989: Shadow trade and industry spokesman
1992: Shadow chancellor
1997: Chancellor of the Exchequer
2007: Prime Minister of Britain |
| Facts |
* His mother Elizabeth
described him as "the shyest member of the
family"
* In April 1962, aged 11, he wrote an article
about a church campaign in favour of television
commercials against the twin demons of alcohol
and tobacco.
* daughter Jennifer Jane died shortly after birth
* His father, Rev. John Ebenezer Brown (1914-December
1998), was a Church of Scotland minister.
* Inspired by his father's sermons, Gordon and
his older brother John set up a tuck shop in the
family's garage and started a newspaper, The Gazette,
to raise money for refugees.
* During a meeting with Pope Benedict in Rome
earlier this year, Brown presented the pontiff
a selection of sermons delivered by his father
in the Presbyterian Church.
* He was the longest-serving chancellor of the
past 100 years, serving since the Labor Party,
under Mr. Blair, came into power in 1997.
* During the 1997 election campaign Gordon Brown
was said to have worked an average of 18 hours
a day, six days a week - after running on a treadmill
for an hour each morning.
* He is modern Britain's first PM with a serious
physical handicap - he is blind in his right eye
- and the first from Scotland since Alec Douglas-Home
in 1963-64 |
| Motto |
"I will try
my utmost." |
| His
Belief |
"Every child
should have the best start in life, that everybody
should have the chance of a job, that nobody should
be brought up suffering in poverty. I would call
them the beliefs that you associate with civilisation
and dignity." |
| Address |
10 Downing Street,
London, SW1A 2AA
FAX:
020 7925 0918 |
