Gordon Brown's Arrival At The Treasury In 1997 Was Greeted By A Stampede - Officials Of Every Rank Spontaneously Rushed To The Door To Cheer The New Incumbent, Excited About The Change. As Master Of The New Era, Brown Created A Matrix Of Relationships Across Every Whitehall Department, And Extended His Influence To Every Aspect Of Government Activity. Over Eight Years At The Heart Of Government, He Has Retained His Gloomy, Brooding Dominance, Stomping About The Treasury While Shaping The Nation's Finances, Planning His Party's Election Strategy And Plotting - Perhaps - His Eventual Acquisition Of The Highest Political Job Of All. Brown Is Now More Than Ever A Contender For The 'not Ignoble' Role Of Leader, But Despite Extensive Newspaper Coverage Of His Activities, His Personal Agenda Has Rarely Been Investigated And Described.^ And In The Taut Balance Of Power Between Treasury And Westminster Village, The Moments Of Defiance Seen In Broadcasts And Speeches Have, Thus Far, Failed To Materialise Into A Comprehensive Open Challenge. Loaded With Insider Information And First-hand Interviews, Tom Bower Delves Deep Into A Ministerial Career Shaped By Intrigue And Ruthlessness. Brown's Supremacy In A Finely Tuned Treasury Machine Has Enabled Him To Claim Credit For Britain's Continuing Financial Health, But Chinks In The Armour Cannot Be Held At Bay Forever. Successive Costly Crises Make It Increasingly Apparent That No Coherent Policy Unifies Brown's Schemes, And The Consequences Threaten To Be Devastating.^ Describing The Ambitions, Manoeuvres And Plots Of Individuals Close To Brown, Tom Bower Exposes The Path Towards Potential Meltdown Of A Nation. This Is The Story Of The Unfolding Demise Of An Inverted Ideologue, Campaigning Against Prejudice And Privilege, Who Failed To Understand The Consequences Of His Ideals And Unwittingly Sabotaged His Dream. The Human Drama Of Brown's Tormented Chancellorship Is The Definitive Story Of New Labour's Rule Over Britain.--book Jacket. Tom Bower. Includes Bibliographical References Abd Index.

Tom Bower

London: HarperCollins

Mills & Boon

Pavilion

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

LONDON, Unknown

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"The gripping inside story of the complex and ambitious Chancellor of the Exchequer's time in power. Gordon Brown's arrival at the Treasury in May 1997 was greeted by a stampede--officials of every rank spontaneously rushed to the door to cheer the new incumbent, excited about the change. As Master of the New Era, Brown created a matrix of relationships across every Whitehall department, and extended his influence to every aspect of government activity. He has been behind the most important budgetary decisions of the past decade: the commitment to Private Finance Initiative, which would affect infrastructure from the London Underground to the NHS to state schools; the management of the Inland Revenue; the increase in taxes; and the demise of Britain's pension funds. Seven years after his arrival at the most powerful department at Whitehall, Brown is now a contender to be the next leader of the Labour Party, but despite extensive newspaper coverage of his activities, his personal agenda has not yet been investigated and described. In this gripping biography of the Chancellor, Tom Bower--author of the best-selling Broken Dreams--documents the rise to power of a driven and complex politician, exposing conflicts within the government and exploring how the repercussions of Brown's ambitions will affect the country for decades to come."

xix, 492 p., [24] p. of plates : 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index

2023-06-28