Gordon Brown succeeded Tony Blair yesterday to become Britain's 52nd prime minister at the head of a Labour government suffering in polls because of Iraq and in need of new life if it is to secure a fourth consecutive term.

Less than two hours after Tony Blair left Number 10 Downing Street to resign as Britain's prime minister, Gordon Brown posed for photographs at the same black front door with the title he had coveted for 10 years.

On a day of careful choreography and pageantry, the handover was swift as Queen Elizabeth asked Gordon Brown to form a government after Mr Blair made an emotional farewell speech to parliament that brought some legislators to tears and the assembly to its feet.

Before the comings and goings between Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and parliament, removal men carried out a double bed, a running machine and an exercise bicycle from Number 10 as Blair's decade-long stay drew to an end.

Mr Blair said his goodbyes to parliament at the weekly prime minister's question-and-answer session where he demonstrated for a final time his debating skills, ease of manner and humour.

In response to a Eurosceptic question from one opposition Conservative parliamentarian, Mr Blair triggered raucous laughter when he said: "Au revoir, auf wiedersehen, arrivederci."

Asked the standard question about his duties of the day, he joked: "I have had meetings with colleagues earlier today but I have no further such meetings later today, or any other day."

But he appeared moved when he spoke about the fear he had always felt before the weekly session and how the political arena "sets the heart beating a little faster".

His final words were: "And that is that. The end."

Parliamentarians on all sides of the chamber sprang to their feet in applause. Some on the ruling Labour Party's benches wiped away tears.

The tributes temporarily masked the acrimony between Mr Blair and scores of Labour parliamentarians over the Iraq war and the rivalry between Labour and the main opposition Conservatives. Anger over Iraq still dogged Mr Blair on the street. Anti-war protesters shouted "war criminal" and "murderer" at him.

Peter Brierley, father of Shaun Brierley, a soldier killed in Iraq, urged Mr Brown to withdraw British troops from Iraq fast. "I don't want anyone to go through what I've been through," he said, holding a large photograph of his son.

Tony Blair, posing for the press with his wife Cherie and four children on the steps of Number 10, appeared not to hear the protesters. Looking relaxed, he ruffled his youngest son's hair before leaving for Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation.

Gordon Brown entered the palace soon afterwards, emerging after 55 minutes to find his saloon car swapped for a shiny new Jaguar that took him back to Number 10.

The difference in style between the two men was evident. Mr Brown looked ill at ease before the cameras, awkwardly trying to follow photographers' instructions to lower his hand or kiss his wife Sarah. He did not oblige with the latter request.

"It is time for change," said Andy Papa, 31, a barrister's clerk.

"We don't need dramatic change. I think just a change of personnel. But personality wise, (Brown) is a bit flat."

Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair as Britain's prime minister after years of waiting and has promised sweeping changes in style and policy to restore trust in a government damaged by the Iraq war.

Tony Blair, whose 10-year rule began with high promises but ended with his popularity badly dented by the 2003 Iraq war, stepped aside to give the Labour Party a better chance of winning a fourth consecutive term in the next election, due in 2010.

"This will be a new government with new priorities," Mr Brown, 56, told reporters in a statement as he arrived at the prime minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street, his wife Sarah at his side.

"I've heard the need for change... and this need for change cannot be met by the old politics," he said, pledging to reach out beyond narrow party interests and build a government that "uses all the talents".

Fact box

Longest-serving Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Mr Brown, 56, whose father was a minister in the Church of Scotland and strongly shaped his views, had a sporting accident when he was a teenager and lost an eye. A prodigious intellect, he went to university at 16.
• After university, Mr Brown worked briefly as a lecturer and a television journalist before entering parliament in 1983, the same year as Mr Blair. The two of them shared an office.
• Westminster folklore has it that Mr Brown and Mr Blair agreed over dinner at a London restaurant in 1994 that Mr Blair would have a clear run at the party leadership on the understanding that Mr Brown would take over half way through a second term in government.
• Mr Brown is the longest-serving chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) in 200 years. His first act as minister was to hand independence to the Bank of England, putting it in charge of interest rates, a move lauded by financial markets.
• There have been clashes with Mr Blair over public service reforms and over Mr Blair's ambition to take Britain into the euro, which Mr Brown effectively thwarted by setting out five economic criteria that Britain must meet before joining.
• Mr Brown's first child with his wife Sarah died 10 days after her premature birth in 2001. The couple have since had two children, the second of whom has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. (Reuters)

Process of becoming Prime Minister
• Mr Blair headed to the House of Commons for the weekly prime minister's questions session at noon.
• Following this he will return to Number 10 Downing Street for the final time for farewell drinks with his staff at around.
• Mr Blair travelled to Buckingham Palace and offered his resignation to Queen Elizabeth. This marked the end of his 10 years as prime minister.
• Shortly after Gordon Brown was summoned from the Treasury to Buckingham Palace.
• There, the queen appointed him as Britain's 52nd prime minister and ask him to form a government.
• Mr Brown was driven back to number 10 Downing Street, which began its association with the office of prime minister in 1730 when Sir Robert Walpole, who effectively served as the first prime minister, moved in.
• Mr Brown is expected to announce his new government today.