Gordon Brown Flashcards
election victories
2007 – never held an election but was elected as Labour leader uncontested, 66 seat majority
context of rule: ELECTION, ECONOMIC CRISIS + BIGOT INCIDENT
Never held an election – urged to call one as Labour was ahead in the opinion polls and was enjoying a ‘honeymoon period’ but he chose not to, therefore lacked a mandate from the electorate as well as legitimacy which ultimately undermined his authority, made worse by the fact that he was elected unopposed as Labour leader in 2007 which mean he never had to prove himself and win a leadership race
Economic crisis – huge financial and economic crisis broke out and he struggled to fend off disaster but did take decisive measures, invested in banks to save them from collapse, responded and dealt with it very well but was not credited with doing so by neither the media nor the public, instead he was partly blamed for it because he was chancellor of the exchequer in the years leading up to the crisis, completely blighted his premiership
‘Bigot’ incident – recorded calling a voter a “bigot”, made him seem out of touch and he came across as unlikeable as well as untrustworthy
context of rule: DAMIEN MCBRIDE, TONY BLAIR + G20 SUMMIT
Damien McBride – a spin doctor and media specialist, emailed leaked of his plans to run a sexual smear campaign against the Conservative Party, damaged Brown’s reputation significantly
Tony Blair – on one hand, people resented Blair for his actions in the Iraq War and Brown was a fresh face but Blair was also known for being a visionary with charisma, anyone coming after someone like Blair would have encountered difficulties (e.g. Major and Thatcher), also hard to refresh the government since Labour had been in power for over 10 years already
G20 Summit – in April 2009, he hosted the G20 Summit in London where world leaders pledged to make an additional $1.1 trillion available to help the world economy through the crisis and restore credit, growth and jobs, people respected his leadership at this point
key beliefs
Iraq War – in 2007, stated that he would “learn the lessons” from mistakes made previously by Blair
Clampdown on corruption – plus a new Ministerial Code, which set out clear standards of behaviour for ministers
Decentralise – wanted to consult and deliberate rather than have a centralised government
key policies
Post-2008 economic crisis – took decisive actions, invested in banks to save them from collapse, followed Keynesian economic theory
Increases in expenditure – especially in health and education
Raising tax – income tax for the wealthiest in society raised
Climate Change Act 2008 – set a target for the year 2050 for the reduction of targeted greenhouse gas emissions
Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 – confer further powers to gather and share information for counter-terrorism and other purposes
Withdrawal of troops from Iraq – war came to an end under Brown, British forces withdrew from the country at the end of April 2009 and he regularly visited Iraq and Afghanistan
Devolution – powers to Northern Ireland
leadership style
Not seen as a natural leader - lacked the necessary personal political skills to be a successful leader
Indecisive and chaotic – according to a civil servant, he never completed a red box during his time in office and let tasks excessively build up
Lacked Blair’s vision – struggled to communicate a clear vision while attempting to step away from Blair’s style of leadership
Remained reliant on his special advisors – such as Damien McBride (known as his ‘attack dog’)
strengths and weaknesses of leadership style
Negative media image – e.g. Bigot scandal, widely disliked and suffered considerably at the hands of the media
Lacked Blair’s vision – struggled to communicate a clear vision while attempting to step away from Blair’s style of leadership
Economic crisis – took decisive measures and dealt with it very well considering the tough situation he was thrown into
Fresh face - people resented Blair for his actions in the Iraq War and Brown was a fresh face
EXAMPLES – demonstrating ability to dictate events and determine policy
Economic crisis – took decisive measures and dealt with it very well considering the tough situation he was thrown into
G20 Summit – in April 2009, he hosted the G20 Summit in London where world leaders pledged to make an additional $1.1 trillion available to help the world economy through the crisis and restore credit, growth and jobs
Withdrawal of troops from Iraq – war came to an end under Brown, British forces withdrew from the country at the end of April 2009
EXAMPLES – demonstrating inability to dictate events and determine policy
‘Bigot’ incident – recorded calling a voter a “bigot”, made him seem out of touch and he came across as unlikeable as well as untrustworthy, suffered at the hands of the media
Damien McBride – a spin doctor and media specialist, emailed leaked of his plans to run a sexual smear campaign against the Conservative Party, damaged Brown’s reputation significantly
relationship with Cabinet
wanted to overcome the sofa politics – this relaxed and informal style of government was created by Blair and Brown wanted to step away from this and take the power/influence away from unelected special advisors
however, he remained reliant on his special advisors such as Damien McBride (known as his ‘attack dog’)
indecisive micromanagement
reasons for leaving office
Economic crisis - responded and dealt with it very well but was not credited with doing so by neither the media nor the public, instead he was partly blamed for it because he was chancellor of the exchequer in the years leading up to the crisis, completely blighted his premiership, dealt a tough hand and had limited ability to shape the political environment
Labour lost 2010 general election – no party won an overall majority but Brown resigned and was replaced by Ed Miliband, the rejuvenated Conservative Party under David Cameron also caused Brown to lose credibility and authority
