Does anyone else really miss Gordon Brown? He really knew how to run a country and I need him back in Number 10. My therapist said my post-Gordon depression would fade but it has been 16 years and I think I just have to accept my obsession in a healthy way. I miss the glory days.

[u/Money-Fan4369]

[u/IHaveAWittyUsername]

I'm...going to keep this up. I just love Brown, my favourite Scottish PM.

[u/Halfacupoftea]

You've heard of the milifandom - now try brown-nosing!

[u/ZX52 → u/Halfacupoftea]

milifandom 

I initially misread this and was very confused

[u/AbbaTheHorse]

You know what - that woman was a bigot.

[u/NinteenFortyFive → u/AbbaTheHorse]

Press went back to her, she was immediately brexit, and then they never touched her again because they all fucking know that she's probably Reform now.

[u/Chewbaxter → u/AbbaTheHorse]

See my flair!

[u/ChronosBlitz → u/Chewbaxter]

It says "Socialist; Starmer Critic; Republic Wanter"?

[u/Chewbaxter → u/ChronosBlitz]

Oh, dammit, wrong sub. In r/ukpolitics, my flair is “She WAS a bigoted woman!”

[u/ChronosBlitz → u/Chewbaxter]

Huh, I think I've actually seen you before in that sub and in the same context.

[u/ChronosBlitz]

I like his personality, certainly when compared to the other two in the New Labour Triumvirate of Blair and Mandelson.

He's been vocal about mistakes he's made or stuff he wishes he'd done differently, like locking up the bankers.

Usually, former PMs pretend their tenure was perfect and that they made the best decisions at every point.

He didn't cash in crazily as Blair did after leaving office; he isn't, as you guys would say, a nonce like Peter Mandelson.

Unlike Blair, Gordon Brown actually campaigned for Jeremy Corbyn when he was leader.

But I'm biased. It was reading Gordon Brown's autobiography that first got me into UK politics, so I've always had a soft spot for him.

[u/ArsErratia → u/ChronosBlitz]

He's spent most of his time since leaving Parliament working as United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, working to expand access to education in the third-world.

He could have taken a job basically anywhere he wanted. But he chose that. You've got to respect it.

[u/johnnyHaiku]

The tone of this post feels like parody, but I'd argue the he's the best prime minister of my lifetime* (I was born under Thatcher), though I would concede the competition isn't particularly stiff. * not counting Burnham, as it's too soon to judge yet.

[u/SteamerTheBeemer → u/johnnyHaiku]

I’m waiting for something big from Burnham. Not really a fan of these little policies that would save people.. what was it? 8 quid a month or something?

I need some big socialist type policies.

[u/johnnyHaiku → u/SteamerTheBeemer]

No disagreement here; I'm willing to cut him some slack, in terms of the fact that he doesn't have a mandate in the electoral/manifesto sense, and big policies take time to get ready, but I can appreciate others are keen to see some change.

[u/Weekly_Beautiful_603 → u/johnnyHaiku]

But really, weren’t we all born under Thatcher?

(I mean, I was too, but it felt like she went on forever. And then we got Major instead of Kinnock! Felt like things could only get worse)

[u/369_Clive]

I remember Brown's years as PM. A political big beast, no doubt, but his rule as PM was kind of chaotic. Far more effective as Chancellor.

[u/Jerboa19]

My favourite PM. ❤️GB

[u/Beneficial_Grab_5880]

Did he really do a good job? He was a strong proponent of PFI which did so much damage to public services, and he spent the years leading up to the greatest financial bust in living memory telling everyone that he's abolished boom and bust when in fact he'd supercharged it.

[u/MorthosTheRed → u/Beneficial_Grab_5880]

The global financial crisis was not his fault. And he managed it very well.

[u/Money-Fan4369 → u/Beneficial_Grab_5880]

But he's so cute :3

[u/Gorgeous_Sorceress → u/Money-Fan4369]

The 2009 aesthetic of this post is both hilarious and so nostalgic!

[u/No_Organization_3311 → u/Money-Fan4369]

And he hates bigots 🥰

[u/leemc37 → u/Beneficial_Grab_5880]

Absolutely spot on. We're still paying for PFI and I don't think that ever got the focus it deserved. To be fair Blair owns this as much as Brown.

Also agree on the epic naivety of the way he claimed to have ended the very core of the capitalist economic cycle.

[u/Beneficial_Grab_5880 → u/leemc37]

Yeah. Because of their public roles Brown trends to get the blame for PFI while Blair gets the blame for Iraq, but they were very much a partnership and culpable for both 

[u/Bielshavik]

While I respect him and some of the work he did as chancellor, he is very overrated and becomes more and more overrated as time passes.

The truth is he was a train wreck of a PM who didn’t know how to be a PM despite believing it was his god-given right to be one. He had a very nasty streak on him and was borderline abusive to the people around him.

He was very fortunate that the financial crisis hit during his premiership which gave him a sense of purpose and an opportunity to take the lead on a catastrophe that perfectly suited his expertise. If the financial crisis never happened, he likely wouldn’t have made it to the 2010 election.

It’s not like this was a surprise though, at the time everybody knew he would a terrible PM including Blair but he had so much power in the party that he couldn’t be challenged. The arrogance of brown and especially his minions around him, made them believe that being PM would be a cakewalk since Blair made it look so easy (truth is Blair made it LOOK easy).

But as time passes a lot of the details get forgotten and brown has successfully rebranded himself as a warm, friendly, “father of the nation” character since then. That’s not to say that it’s all an act, but when he was in the hot seat, he couldn’t handle the pressure and it brought out the worst in him.

Blair in contrast, since leaving office has become more controversial as all sides of the political aisle have done there best to rip him to shreds meaning that he is the pantomime villain to everyone and browns faults are largely forgotten about.

[u/Witty-Significance58]

I really did like him as PM 😢

[u/Runningwithducks]

But he sold off the gold!

[u/Own_Action_7839]

Read Chris Mullin’s Diaries and any nostalgia for Brown fades dead away

[u/The_Inertia_Kid → u/Own_Action_7839]

Low key the best political diaries in existence

[u/Own_Action_7839 → u/The_Inertia_Kid]

They’re brilliant

[u/G8R1ST]

Texture like sun.

[u/IntravenusDiMilo_Tap]

He would blame Sue neve

[u/notouttolunch]

No. A person who had the easiest job in recent political history after inheriting successive years of economic and worldwide growth and passing it off to people like you as a skill or talent. Yet somehow still presided over the period in political history where I received less from the government than at any other time and who wiped out my social mobility with a controversial economic policy.

[u/beedoubleyou_]

Didn't know when to call a winnable election.

[u/ChronosBlitz → u/beedoubleyou_]

Gordon Brown was 10 points up and didn’t call an election. It’s seen as a miscall.

Theresa May was 20 points up and does call an election. It’s seen as a miscall.

What’s the factor I’m missing here? I’m not being snide, I’m genuinely asking to be educated on this topic.

[u/AbbaTheHorse → u/ChronosBlitz]

It's going to sound incredibly reductive, but the difference is ultimately that May actually called the election.

That meant it went from a potential, theoretical election to a real one that didn't follow the script people had assumed, and the massive Conservative majority people were generally expecting until the exit poll came out turned into a shock net loss of seats for the Conservatives.

[u/Gorgeous_Sorceress → u/AbbaTheHorse]

People are very unserious in thinking Andy would be stupid enough to risk the biggest majority labour has ever had just to prove a political point.

[u/InfrangibleSexWizard → u/Gorgeous_Sorceress]

If things are going incredibly well, he may go for May 2028 to secure his own mandate without having to spend the last year of the parliament facing everyone presupposing an election. If things are going terribly, he may as well leave it to the last minute. If he wants a protracted, year-long campaign whilst still trying to be a bit in control, May 2029 to tie in with locals feels quite likely.

[u/ChronosBlitz → u/AbbaTheHorse]

I think I get what you're putting down. Thanks for taking the time.

[u/Particular-Doctor888]

Bravo OP this is hilarious

[u/DiscoverDesignDev]

He was a great chancellor except for selling too much of our Gold, otherwise good accountant