Gordon Brown

By Alan Fisher in Europe on January 18th, 2011

Brian Cowen is a tough political operator. You don't pick up the nickname Biffo because you like flower arranging and leave everyone feeling warm and fuzzy.

So when he stood up in Dublin on Sunday and asked his Fianna Fail party to back him or sack him, you knew he'd done his arithmetic and was pretty sure he'd win.

He's been in trouble for a while. In echos of the UK and Gordon Brown, he was finance minister to a long-serving and popular prime minister. He presided over the budget at a time of unprecedented expansion which no one thought would ever end and everyone loved him for it.

When elevated to the top job, he enjoyed a bit of a honeymoon period but when the global financial crisis began to bite, his popularity began to fall.

It's just two months since the country called in the IMF and the EU because of the state of the finances.

By Alan Fisher in Europe on September 28th, 2010
Reuters photo

It’s a big day for Ed Miliband – the biggest in his short political career.

He’s only been an MP since 2005 – but now he’s got to deliver a speech which could well dictate if the Labour Party has a chance of winning the next UK election in four and a half years.

For the past few months, he’s criss-crossed the country, talking to party activists, articulating why he would be the best person to take over from Gordon Brown. Enough people bought into that vision to elect him leader.

Now in his first major speech since taking charge, he’s got to go beyond that.

By Alan Fisher in Europe on May 10th, 2010
Photo by AFP

Even in these unpredictable days - this was truly an astonishing moment.

The podium Gordon Brown uses for announcements was lifted into place. A young assistant made a quick sound check and then moved respectfully to the side.

Just a minute before five, he walked out, notes in hand, the thick black writing he needs because of his eyesight problems clearly visable.

He began talking about the business of government, what he and others had done today. The formality gave no hint of the importance of the announcement.

He revealed his Labour party was to begin formal talks with the Liberal Democrats about forming a government - something that clearly wasn't going to happen while Brown stayed in place.

"I have no desire to stay in my position longer than is needed to ensure the path to economic growth is assured and the process of political reform we have agreed moves forward quickly," he said.

It was clear now he felt his time was up.

By Alan Fisher in Europe on May 9th, 2010
Photo by AFP

For most of us who've covered UK politics, this is uncharted territory.

We are unused to the hurried talks, detailed discussions and the hard bargaining of coalition building.

We normally see the one-in-one-out process of UK elections, where the loser leaves and the winner walks in immediately. And perhaps that is driving the expectation that a deal should be done quickly.

It's unseasonably cold in London, and the pavement outside the Cabinet Office is hardly a tourist attraction. The building is drab and grey and uninteresting. Yet dozens are here, standing quietly, watching and waiting.

Quite what they expect, I'm not sure, and I don't think they do either. But this is history in the making and I can understand why they want to be close to that.

Negotiations

The Liberal Democrats are first to arrive, their cars stopping a short distance from the front door, giving them a short walk in front of the cameras.

By Alan Fisher in Europe on May 7th, 2010
Photo by EPA

1245 GMT Gordon Brown strode out of Downing Streeting - his speech in hand.

The first indication of what was coming was he was alone. If he was about to quit, his wife Sarah would have been by his side.

He made it clear the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats could, and should, discuss a coalition, but the message was clear.

If it falls apart, then I'm free to chat. This is political poker.

Brown is essentially saying: "David have a go if you think you can form a government but I don't think you can. And if you lose, I get to go".

As he walked back in, I felt he was almost tempted to answer the questions we journalists shouted at him.

By Nazanine Moshiri in Europe on May 5th, 2010
Photo by AFP

Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, says he has "never known so many undecided voters as we have seen in this election".

By Al Jazeera Staff in Europe on May 5th, 2010
Photo by AFP

Britain has held what appears to be the tightest election race in a generation.

The Conservative party took the lead but failed to gain a clear parliamentary majority, leaving the UK with a hung parliament. Eyes are now on the Liberal Democrats, as the two main parties attempt to woo them into forming an alliance.

You can follow the the latest news from Al Jazeera's UK election team right here.  

1636 GMT It's not just Nick Clegg that David Cameron is going to have to convince of the merits of a coalition. As this story from the Financial Times shows, he faces a battle persuading his own party.

By Alan Fisher in Europe on April 29th, 2010
Photo by AFP

Gordon Brown needed to win - and win big.  He didn't.

The third and final leaders' debate seemed set just for him - it was on the economy. Not only did he spend 10 years as UK finance minister, he was hailed as one of the reasons the global financial crisis didn't become a depression rather than a recession.

But it had been a difficult 24 hours. He'd called a grandmother who was a life-long Labour supporter "a bigoted woman" in a private conversation which was caught by a microphone and had to make a public apology. It was the most disastrous miss-step of what is becoming a disastrous campaign.

He addressed the issue in his opening statement which he really had to do.

By Alan Fisher in Europe on April 29th, 2010
Picture from AFP

The Labour Party in the UK  has had a bad election campaign.  Never in front in the opinion polls, now trailing in third place. 

Gordon Brown has failed to excite the electorate - and the unfortunately named 'bigotgate' scandal where he insulted one of the party's core supporters has undoubtedly had an impact. 

Labour is hoping that it's support stands up in traditional areas, the inner cities of England, large parts of Scotland and the urban areas of Wales. 

There is a chance that even trailing in behind the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in the share of the vote, the party could still win the largest number of seats. 

Yet, if they're basing the final result on the opinion polls, Labour supporters and politicians could be in for a very big shock.

A quick analysis of the polls and the reality of the last four elections will make deeply uncomfortable reading.  In the elections in 1

By Alan Fisher in Europe on April 28th, 2010
Photo by AFP

 

When everyone looks back on this day of the British general election campaign, no-one will be happy with the outcome.

On one hand, there is a working-class pensioner; a lifelong Labour supporter who took the opportunity to confront the prime minister on genuine concerns for her and her family. 

When told - in an unguarded moment caught on a radio microphone - he had later described her as a "bigoted woman", Gillian Duffy looked shattered, as if the wind had been knocked out of her. 

She genuinely could not understand what she had said that he would think was bigoted.

Then there was Gordon Brown, the British prime minister.

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