History: Founded at the start of the 20th century as a political voice for the working class, the Labour Party first won a large majority in the House of Commons and governed for a full term in the years immediately after the Second World War. Under the leadership of Tony Blair, Labour achieved its first General Election victory for 23 years, and its largest ever representation of MPs, in the landslide victory of 1997. Blair led the party to two subsequent General Election victories in a row, making him the only Labour Party leader to ever win three back to back election victories. The Labour Party describes itself as democratic socialist.
Leader: Gordon Brown became Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party in June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair. Brown had served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, making him one of the longest serving chancellors in British political history. Brown has been an MP for the constituency of Dunfermline East (renamed Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath in 2005) since 1983. Prior to this he completed a PhD at the University of Edinburgh and was briefly a journalist for Scottish television.
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