Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown was the longest-serving Chancellor of the Exchequer in British history, serving ten years. Brown’s role in the Blair government and the exchequer was greatly revered. However, achieving success as the nation’s Prime Minister proved a difficult challenge for him. Why was that so?

Gordon Brown Background

Gordon Brown's Party

Before becoming Prime Minister, Gordon Brown played a vital role in the Labour Party. Gordon Brown is considered a pioneer in the formation of the New Labour Party and the economic successes during Tony Blair’s government.

New Labour

The election of Tony Blair marked the beginning of the New Labour era. However, the push for a modernised Labour Party and what would become the New Labour Party began under many Labour leaders (Neil Kinnock, John Smith, and Tony Blair). It was led by several Labour MPs, most notably Gordon Brown.Gordon Brown was one of the key players behind the modernisation of the Labour Party. It was assumed Brown would help the Labour Party achieve new electoral success.Along with figures such as Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson, Gordon Brown pushed the party to move away from concepts such as state economic management, nationalisation, unilateral nuclear disarmament, high taxes, and close ties to the unions. They wanted to usher in a new era of globalised politics and advocated market economy and supply-side economics.

Gordon Brown and his allies transformed the Labour Party into an electable party by - a task the Labour Party struggled with for nearly two decades. As a result, Brown’s tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer was highly praised. However, for some in his Party, the departure from Labour’s traditional economic policies was too high a price to pay.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

In the 1997 general election, the Labour Party won a landslide victory, and Tony Blair became Prime Minister. Gordon Brown was then appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer and quickly took control of almost all areas of national economic policy.During the 1997 election campaign, Gordon Brown, then shadow chancellor, announced that Labour would adhere to the same spending restrictions the Conservative government had introduced. So when Gordon became Chancellor, his economic policies changed little from those of the Thatcher/Major regime.Gordon Brown embraced Thatcher’s economic and globalist policies and thus pursued a similar economic agenda. Brown remained committed to supply-side economics.

Brown disappointed many Labour supporters and party members by refusing to abandon the strict public spending policies he had inherited from the Conservative Party.However, despite internal party criticism of his public spending cuts and increased government borrowing, Gordon Brown achieved the following:

• By 2007, Gordon Brown had completed a record ten years as Chancellor.

• Inflation had remained low, and employment had reached record levels.

• Living standards remained high, and the consumer economy was booming.

Although Labour MPs and supporters criticised Brown, he implemented domestic policies to improve the welfare state and public services. By July 1998, Brown had drawn up comprehensive plans outlining a significant increase in spending on education and health.

British economic historian Peter Sinclair argued in his 2007 book ‘The Treasury and Economic Policy’:

The fact that inequality and poverty have improved somewhat in the Gordon Brown era, rather than worsening as they did under Thatcher, reflects the impact of Brown’s policies to provide greater support for low-income families.

During his time as Chancellor, Gordon Brown was hard to fault, but that was not the case during his time as Prime Minister.Both the opposition and his Party severely criticised Gordon Brown during his premiership and constantly asked him to resign.As Brown’s tenure took shape, he faced a global financial crisis, the loss of a majority, the terrible results of the European election, criticism of the Iraq operation, and political scandals.Gordon Brown’s popularity quickly waned, and the tide turned against him.

Domestic Policy

Brown made various improvements to the NHS, sought to address inequality, improved environmental policy, and oversaw the devolution of powers in Northern Ireland.

NHS

Once Brown became Prime Minister, he pledged to reform the National Health Service and improve the nation’s health.Brown’s goal was to:

• Prioritise disease prevention.

• Treatment of chronic sickness.

• Improve primary care services.

• Promote physical activity and nutrition in schools.

• Implement a food labelling system that describes the nutritional value of foods.

• Improve access to routine health screenings.

• Promote employee health awareness in the workplace.

Equality Act

In 2010, Gordon Brown passed the Equality Act, which consolidated, updated, and supplemented previous anti-discrimination laws.This law sought to improve elements of the law:

• The Equal Pay Act of 1970.

• The Sex Discrimination Act of 1975.

• The Race Relations Act of 1976.

• The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995.

Brown hoped the act would require employers to provide equal treatment regardless of age, disability, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or belief.

Environment and Climate Change

Gordon Brown also felt responsible for promoting a green policy. Thus, Brown established policies aimed at environmental sustainability. Brown argued that ‘economic objectives and our environmental objectives now increasingly reinforce each other.’In 2008, Brown’s administration passed the world’s first Climate Change Act. The act set a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Northern Ireland

It is unlikely that Northern Ireland and peace in the Irish region will be part of Gordon Brown’s legacy, as key moments in the peace process occurred during Tony Blair’s premiership.During his tenure, he worked with the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland, Brian Cowen, in negotiating the transfer of policing and justice powers to Northern Ireland.A final agreement was reached in February 2010 and the powers transferred to the Northern Ireland government in April 2011.

Gordon Brown Cabinet

During Brown’s premiership, the Labour Party and other parties MP’s were embroiled in a series of scandals. These scandals severely damaged Gordon Brown’s reputation, especially since he had pledged to crack down on corruption and revise the Ministerial Code, which contained clear guidelines for ministers.

1. IIn 2009, Gordon Brown faced a crisis after a critical advisor, Damian McBride, resigned, and the Conservative Party threatened legal action over explosive leaked emails. The emails were about how senior Conservatives, including David Cameron and his wife Samantha, could be targeted with smears about their private lives.

2. Gordon Brown was accused in 2009 of misappropriating funds after paying his brother Andrew $10,000 to clean his Westminster flat.

3. In the spring of 2009, a political scandal erupted involving the widespread misuse of expense accounts by members of Parliament, including members of Gordon Brown’s Cabinet. This led to the resignation of several members of Brown’s Cabinet and a major Cabinet reshuffle.

   Sir John Mr Butterfill, the outgoing Conservative MP for Bournemouth, had to repay £17,000 in the expenses review. This event came after it emerged that he claimed the cost of building an extension to his home for his gardener and wife.

4. Just weeks before the 2010 general election, Gordon Brown faced a new MP scandal after a number of MPs were secretly filmed claiming to accept cash payments of up to £5,000 to influence political decisions. This scandal also involved Gordon Brown’s Cabinet members and led to several resignations and a reshuffle of Gordon Brown’s Cabinet.

   Stephen Byer, a Labour MP, was caught declaring on tape that he had accepted money to influence government policy in Parliament. Byer claimed that he had played a large part in influencing the results for National Express and Tesco. This scandal was later dubbed the ‘cash for influence scandal’.

Leadership Challenge

Loss of Majority

For three consecutive terms, Tony Blair maintained a majority in the House of Commons. However, this changed during Brown’s time in office.In the local elections on 1 May 2008, the Labour Party achieved its worst result in 40 years. With an extrapolated vote share of 24 %, Labour ended up in third place nationally. The Party lost by-election seats in Nantwich, Crewe and Henley and slipped in the polls.In addition to the defeats in the by-elections, the Labour Party lost further seats and its majority in the House of Commons. It came second to the Conservatives in the 2010 British general election.A few days later, Brown announced he would resign as Labour leader.

Gordon Brown Successor

Brown was succeeded as Prime Minister by David Cameron after the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition.

Economic Policy

In 2008–09, a global financial crisis and recession hit the United Kingdom. This crisis severely tested Gordon Brown’s government.Brown called for measures to stimulate aggregate demand and announced a bank rescue package worth around £500 billion and a temporary 2.5% cut in VAT.As a result, the government took a majority stake in Northern Rock and the Royal Bank of Scotland and invested large sums in several other banks, including Lloyds Banking Group.As the general election loomed, Brown tried to stimulate the economy, leading to a higher budget deficit and causing his poll ratings to drop.

Foreign Policy

Brown believed the global fight against terrorism required more than military force. Thus, under his leadership, British troops ended the occupation of Iraq.Under Brown, the United States remained a reliable ally. Despite speculation that Brown would sever close ties with the nation, particularly over Iraq, favouring a foreign policy course that benefits the United Kingdom. Asserting that he would remain close to the nation, Brown stated:

Iraq and the War on Terror

Although Gordon Brown had largely supported the Iraq War, in June 2007, he stated he was willing to ‘learn the lessons’ of Tony Blair’s mistakes in the region. Indeed, in 2008, Brown announced the government would hold an inquiry into the war: the Chilcot Inquiry.Under Brown’s leadership, UK forces raised their flag over the city of Basra on 30 April 2009 to signal the end of their combat operations in Iraq. This marked the end of British involvement in the war in Iraq.

Brown and the European Union (EU)

Political commentators labelled Brown was labelled a Eurosceptic during Blair’s government. Brown was not opposed to the European Union, but he had different ideas about the nation’s participation in it.

The Labour Party promised in its 2005 manifesto to hold a referendum on the original EU Constitution. However, when Brown was Prime Minister, he backed away from that pledge. Instead, Brown reaffirmed Britain’s participation in the Union by attending the ceremonial signing of the EU Reform Treaty in Lisbon on 13 December 2007.The treaty differs significantly from the Constitution, making a referendum unnecessary in Brown’s view.In the European elections held during Brown’s premiership, the Labour polled 16% of the vote, finishing third behind the Conservatives and the UK Independence Party (UKIP). The historically low turnout of 33% showed voter apathy. In Scotland, the turnout was only 28%.

Gordon Brown’s legacy

• British historians often combine and evaluate Gordon Brown’s legacy with that of Tony Blair. But Brown was equally important in his own right as both Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister. As Chancellor of the Exchequer, he steered the British economy during a period of sustained expansion.
• As Prime Minister, he faced a general decline in support for the Labour Party among the electorate, the global financial crisis, the aftermath of the Iraq war, and several political scandals.
• In his role as Prime Minister, however, Brown failed to remedy the ailing economy, resolve internal Party and political problems and scandals, prevent the decline of the Labour Party and its majority, or convince the nation of his competence as a leader.
• Brown’s critics argue, however, that while he confronted some critical problems, he also failed to implement radical reforms at a time when the country needed him most.