* Gordon Brown | UK | Work in progress | by Tamer Youssef | Pencil Sketch on Bristol Paper | Photo | Olympus digital camera | February 2009 | Tamer Youssef's Caricature World *

James Gordon Brown MP (born 20 February 1951) is a British Labour politician and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Brown assumed office in June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair and three days after becoming leader of the governing Labour Party. Before this, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour government from 1997 to 2007 under Blair. Brown has a PhD in history from the University of Edinburgh and spent his early career working as a TV journalist. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1983; first for Dunfermline East and since 2005 for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. As Prime Minister, he also holds the positions of First Lord of the Treasury and the Minister for the Civil Service. Brown's time as Chancellor was marked by major reform of Britain's monetary and fiscal policy architecture, transferring interest rate setting powers to the Bank of England, by a wide extension of the powers of the Treasury to cover much domestic policy, and by largely benign economic conditions. His most controversial moves were the abolition of Advance Corporation Tax (ACT) relief in his first budget - a move that received criticism for effectively wiping out defined benefit or final salary pension schemes in the UK. - and removal of the 10p tax rate in his final 2007 budget. His time as PM has been of mixed fortune, facing repercussions of the credit crunch and the associated nationalisation of Northern Rock, the 10p tax rate row, rising oil and petrol prices, and increased inflation. Brown has also suffered as a result of investigations into improper party donation accusations, a costly political battle over 42 day detention and heavy by-election defeats, notably Glasgow East. Despite an initial increase in personal and Labour popularity following his appointment as Leader and PM, Brown has presided over a dramatic decline in poll approval ratings personally and for the party. During the summer of 2008 speculation arose of a potential challenge to Brown's leadership, but the threat of a contest receded during October following the Labour Party Conference, the emergence of the financial crisis and Labour's win in Glenrothes after a number of by-election losses.

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