Long wait over for Gordon Brown

Sure of becoming Prime Minister after long years of waiting, Gordon Brown smiles much more now.

He's got tailored suits and whiter teeth, and is making a huge effort to appear more personable. But Britain's finance minister still faces a battle to guide the increasingly unpopular Labour Party to a fourth successive election victory.

Mr Brown was assured on Wednesday of becoming Britain's next leader without a vote after his only rival for the party leadership conceded defeat.

The son of a clergyman, Mr Brown's serious style is very different from that of Prime Minister Tony Blair, the perennially upbeat lawyer who announced last week he will step down on June 27 after more than 10 years in office. "Perhaps I will soon be able to talk about things other than financial figures," the 56-year-old Scot said. "I give news about the economy, and so the scope for great humour isn't really there. I can't just start cracking jokes about taxation."

Mr Brown says he always wanted to be footballer. But at 16, a sporting injury cost him an eye and put him in hospital for months. He was in danger of going completely blind. "Every event that you face shapes you," he says. "I just had to stay determined and positive.

"The most important thing in one's life is to be determined when bad things happen to you, and not to let events beat you."

Mr Brown threw himself into left-wing politics at Edinburgh University, his beliefs shaped by the poverty he saw growing up in Kirkcaldy, a town with a failing linoleum industry.

The Brown Sugars - miniskirted female fans - cheered him to his first election victory as university rector. Colleagues remember the student Brown as being intensely driven and he remains a single-minded workaholic.

Flying into Iraq for the first time in November, Mr Brown continued studying his papers as the military helicopter lurched violently a few metres above the ground.

As the longest-serving Chancellor of the Exchequer in 200 years, Mr Brown has had a greater hand in shaping domestic policy than any other incumbent in living memory. He held the government's purse strings so tightly that one former top civil servant said he demonstrated "Stalinist ruthlessness" towards colleagues over spending plans.

His first act on entering office in 1997 is still regarded as Labour's masterstroke, handing control of interest rates to the Bank of England. He also kept Britain out of the euro. The British economy has thrived and the International Monetary Fund repeatedly praises his skilful management.

But government borrowing has risen and the housing boom that has made huge numbers paper millionaires has increased inequality and created a trillion-pound debt mountain.

With decisions often made within a tightly knit coterie, many have criticised Brown's management style. Opponents say he lacks charm and often walks right past them without a word.

Certainly, Mr Brown is more of a bruiser than Mr Blair. He angered fellow G7 finance ministers in 2005 over his determination to get a deal on writing off Africa's debts and likes to portray himself as a staunch defender of British interests in Europe.

Fatherhood, however, has softened him. Mr Brown shed a tear on television last year talking about the death of his daughter, Jennifer Jane, 10 days after her premature birth in 2001.

He and wife Sarah have had two sons since. John in 2003 and Fraser, who has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, last year. Mr Brown's face lights up when he talks about them. "I need a red cement mixer. I'm going to be in trouble unless I get a red cement mixer," he suddenly interjected at dinner recently. Glasgow-born Brown first entered in Parliament in 1983 to share an office with another promising newcomer - Tony Blair.

The two rapidly rose through the ranks of an opposition party struggling to reinvent itself, with Mr Brown considered the senior member of the partnership.

But when party boss John Smith died in 1994, Labour folklore has it that Mr Brown agreed at a trendy London restaurant to give Mr Blair a clear run for the leadership on the understanding he would take over halfway through a second term in government.

That point has long come and gone, creating the tension and rivalry that has been the defining feature of British politics for a decade.

Mr Brown now finally looks certain to be Prime Minister. But with Labour well behind the Conservatives in opinion polls and an election expected in 2009, the question is for how long.

Some of Brown's policies

Economy
Brown has been Finance Minister since 1997 and markets have little to fear from a Brown premiership as economic policy is likely to remain unchanged.

Iraq
Mr Brown has publicly backed the Iraq war and accepted responsibility for going to war as a Cabinet decision. However, he will be anxious to draw a line under the conflict - perhaps the biggest reason for the government's unpopularity - and has pledged to reduce troop numbers when possible.

Security
Mr Brown has publicly supported government plans to detain terrorism suspects for more than 28 days without charge, which was defeated in Parliament. Launching his campaign on Friday, he said there must be a balance between defending Britain's security and protecting civil liberties.

Europe
Mr Brown is widely perceived as cooler towards Europe than Mr Blair. He kept Britain out of the European single currency. Nevertheless, Mr Brown is aware that many key issues, such as tackling carbon emissions, require a European solution.

Education
Mr Brown has pledged to raise spending on schools so pupils in the state sector suffer no disadvantage compared to privately educated children.

Health
Mr Brown says the state-run National Heath Service will be a priority. Hospitals in some areas have been hit by cuts recently despite the large sums Blair's government put into the service.

Enivornment and energy
As all main political parties vie to seize the green initiative, Mr Brown has made clear he prefers incentives to taxes, which may be regressive. He believes tackling pollution has to be done at a global level since carbon emission ceilings are set at an EU level.