James Gordon Brown was born on 20 February 1951 in Glasgow, Scotland and was brought up in Kirkcaldy. He attended Kirkcaldy West Primary School before moving onto Kirkcaldy High School two years early because he participated in a "fast track" education programme. He became the British Prime Minister in June 2007.
At the age of just 16, Brown was accepted into the University of Edinburgh to study history and graduated with First Class honours in 1972. He stayed on to complete his PhD which is completed ten years later in 1982.
Gordon Brown Becomes a Member of Parliament
Brown was elected to parliament in 1983, following his second attempt to become the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline East and became the Labour spokesman for Trade and Industry in 1985. Between 1987 and 1989, he served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He also held the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. In 1992, he was appointed Shadow Chancellor.
With Labour being the main opposition party to the Conservative government in power at the time, the labour party appointed people to jobs within the party which copied the job titles of the party in power. These positions were called "Shadows".
Following the death of Labour party leader John Smith in May 1994, Brown was widely tipped to be the next party leader, but did not compete for leadership after Tony Blair became a favourite.
Brown's Time as Chancellor
When Labour came to power in 1997, Brown was made Chancellor and held this post for just over a decade. On the 10 Downing Street website, one of Brown's credits is that he presided over "the longest ever period of growth".
In October 2004, Tony Blair, the-then British Prime Minister announced that he would not lead the Labour Party for a fourth general election, although he would serve his full third term as Prime Minister. Blair, under pressue from both the media and his own party, announced he would step down within a year in September 2006.
Gordon Brown as Prime Minister
Brown had been the clear favourite to take up leadership of the party for several years before Blair left the party and he became Prime Minister on the 27 June 2007. He is the twelfth Brtish Prime Minister to take office without winning a general election.
Brown has been committed to the Iraq War, but has also said that he would learn from the mistakes made by the UK in the war and has also said that he will hold an inquiry in to the war. Brown has been invovled in a number of controversial political decisions since he took office. These include the introduction of a 42-day detention period for terror suspects with no charges actually made against them.
Gordon Brown is married to his wife, Sarah and they have two children.
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