Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown, generally known as Gordon Brown is a British Labour politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 1997. His mutual enmity with Prime Minister Tony Blair has been a consistent feature of British political life for a number of years, and he is widely expected to take over as Prime Minister when Tony Blair retires in the summer of 2007.
Brown is one of the longest serving Chancellors in history, and has taken credit for the consistently healthy state of the British economy during his tenure. He is a passionate advocate of reducing poverty in the Third World. He has also acquired a reputation for being strongly patriotic, following speeches in which he has praised the concept of "Britishness". It is expected that, as Prime Minister, he will pursue a more independent and distictively British foreign policy, in contrast to Tony Blair's firm alliance with the United States.
During Brown's tenure as Chancellor, the UK has enjoyed sustained economic growth and generally positive reports from the IMF, although there were concerns at extreme inflationary pressures in the housing market. At the same time, he has followed a generally redistributionary policy, increasing spending in the National Health Service and education, whilst giving tax breaks to poorer families.
