Premiership of Gordon Brown

Official portrait, c. 2008
Premiership of Gordon Brown 27 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Cabinet	Brown ministry
Party	Labour
Seat	10 Downing Street
← Tony Blair David Cameron →
Coat of arms of HM Government

This article is part of a series about Gordon Brown
Electoral history MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Shadow Chancellor Blair–Brown deal Chancellor of the Exchequer Chancellorship 1997 budget Five economic tests Financial Services Authority 10p tax rate Sale of UK gold reserves, 1999–2002 Policies Brownism New Labour Third Way Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Premiership 2007 leadership election Ministry Treaty of Lisbon 2008 financial crisis Bank rescue packages 2008 2009 Climate Change Act 2008 2009 European elections 2010 general election Post–Prime Minister 2014 Scottish independence referendum My Life, Our Times
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Gordon Brown's term as the prime minister of the United Kingdom began on 27 June 2007 when he accepted an invitation of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, replacing Tony Blair, and ended on 11 May 2010 upon his resignation. While serving as prime minister, Brown also served as the first lord of the treasury, the minister for the civil service, and the leader of the Labour Party. He and Blair both extensively used the New Labour branding while in office, which was presented as the brand of a newly reformed party that had altered Clause IV and endorsed market economics, though Brown's style of government differed from that of his predecessor. Brown is the most recent Labour politician as well as the most recent Scottish politician to hold the office of prime minister.

Brown rescinded some of the policies which had been introduced or were planned by Blair's administration. He remained committed to close ties with the United States and to the war in Iraq, although he established an inquiry into the reasons for Britain's participation in the conflict. He proposed a "government of all the talents" which would involve co-opting leading personalities from industry and professional occupations into government positions. Brown also appointed Jacqui Smith as the UK's first female home secretary, while Brown's former position as chancellor of the exchequer was taken over by Alistair Darling.

Brown's government introduced monetary and fiscal policies to help keep the banks afloat during the financial crisis in 2008, and as a result the United Kingdom's national debt increased dramatically. The Government took majority shareholdings in Northern Rock and Royal Bank of Scotland, both of which experienced financial difficulties. Large amounts of money were injected into several other banks, including newly merged HBOS-Lloyds TSB, which received £17 billion. Domestic policies focusing on education, employment and health were introduced by the administration. The Labour Party was persuaded to give Gurkhas settlement rights in Britain by the campaign of actress Joanna Lumley and attracted criticism for its handling of the Scottish Government's release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi—the only person to have been convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

During the first four months of his premiership, Brown enjoyed a substantial lead in the polls. His popularity amongst the public may have been because his handling of numerous serious events during his first few weeks as prime minister, including two attempted terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow at the end of June 2007. However, between the end of 2007 and September 2008, his popularity fell significantly; two contributing factors were believed to be his perceived change of mind over plans to call a general election in October 2007 and his handling of the 10p tax rate cut in 2008, which led to allegations of weakness and dithering. Brown has since claimed that Labour would have won he 2007 election but he did not believe an early election was in the national interest.^[1][2] His unpopularity led eight Labour MPs to call for a leadership contest in September 2008, less than 15 months into his premiership.^[3] The threat of a leadership contest receded due to his perceived strong handling of the global financial crisis in October, but his popularity hit an all-time low and his position became increasingly untenable after the May 2009 expenses scandal and Labour's poor results in the 2009 Local and European elections.

With the onset of the Great Recession, the Labour government under Brown took the blame from a worsening economic climate, soaring unemployment and the expenses scandal. Brown's cabinet began to rebel; there were several key resignations in the run up to local elections in June 2009. However, Brown was backed by his party. He faced a second attempt to launch a leadership challenge by former Cabinet colleagues Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt in January 2010, but the plot failed to gather momentum and Brown remained as both Labour leader and prime minister to lead his party into the 2010 general election. The election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Conservative Party winning the largest number of seats but falling short of an overall majority.

Brown remained prime minister while the Liberal Democrats entered separate negotiations with Labour and the Conservatives with a view to forming a coalition government. He announced his intention to resign on 10 May 2010 to help broker a Labour-Liberal Democrat deal. However, this became increasingly unlikely and on 11 May, realising that a deal between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats was imminent, Brown resigned as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Conservative leader David Cameron and as Labour leader by Ed Miliband. His premiership has generally been viewed as average in historical rankings and public opinion of British prime ministers.