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The Brown identity

In 10 days time, the chancellor will become prime minister. But who is Gordon Brown - and what turned a vivacious student into the dour control freak of media legend? Alan Taylor talks to friends of the old, and the new, Gordon Brown, while Jamie Lafferty travels to Kirkcaldy to meet his constituents.

'To begin to understand Gordon Brown you need a rudimentary grasp of Scottish Presbyterianism. Too often it is portrayed as joyless, guilt-ridden and tortured, the church of John Knox and Lord Reith. That, though,is only partly accurate.Other adjectives which could be attached to it are compassionate, democratic, independent, inclusive, selfless. Its central place in Scottish society - particularly at the time when Brown was a boy - can hardly be overstated. Moreover, before the advent of devolution the Kirk's annual General Assembly was the nation's de facto parliament, the one arena where the issues of the day could be aired and debated.

"This was the backdrop to Brown's formative years. His father, John, was a minister who made his three sons aware of the poverty and illness that existed in his down-at-heel Kirkcaldy parish and its unlovely environs.Living in a manse, recalled Brown: "You find out quickly about life and death and the meaning of poverty, injustice and unemployment." Hisfather washis first influence, initially for his ability to speak without notes in front of a crowd, an art which his son soon mastered, and because of his benevolent attitude towards people. "He taught me to treat everyone equally," Brown has said, "and that is something I have not forgotten."

'Life, according to the gospel of father Brown, was a gift which was precious and unpredictable. Who knows how long any of us have to live? With that uppermost in mind, Brown's father emphasised the need to live every day as if it were our last. "So let us not trifle because we think we have plenty of time ahead of us," he preached. "We do not know what time we have. We cannot be sure of the length of life ... Therefore use your time wisely. Live as those who are answerable for every moment and every hour."'

Full story at the Sunday Herald.