Brown, Gordon (1951-…), served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010. Tony Blair resigned as prime minister and Labour Party leader in June 2007, and the party chose Brown to replace Blair. Brown’s Labour Party was defeated in the general election of May 2010, ending his time in office.
Brown has held a number of posts in the British government. From 1983 to 2005, he represented Scotland‘s Dunfermline East constituency (voting district) in the British Parliament. Brown was chairman of the Labour Party in Scotland in 1983 and 1984. In 2005, following a change to the system of parliamentary constituencies, Brown became a member of Parliament for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. From 1997 to 2007, he served as chancellor of the exchequer, the country’s chief financial officer, in the government of Prime Minister Blair.
James Gordon Brown was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on Feb. 20, 1951. He is the second son of Dr. John Brown, a Church of Scotland minister, and Jessie Elizabeth Souter. He received an M.A. degree from Edinburgh University in 1972 and a Ph.D. in 1982. Brown worked as a university lecturer and journalist before entering Parliament. He has written several books on British politics. Brown married Sarah Macaulay in 2000. Their first child died after being born premature. They have since had two more children.
See also Blair, Tony .
