Gordon Brown was on Sunday formally elected leader of the Labour Party — 13 years after he conceded the party leadership to Tony Blair that led to an uneasy relationship between him as the chancellor and Blair as the prime minister.

The crowning of Brown as the Labour leader means that he will take over as next British prime minister on Wednesday, when Blair is scheduled to drive down to the Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation after a record decade in office.

His confirmation as the Labour leader was a formality after he remained the only candidate in the leadership contest. The confirmation was made at a special Labour conference in Manchester.

It was also announced that Justice Minister Harriet Harman was elected the deputy leader of the party. He, however, will not necessarily become the next deputy prime minister in place of the incumbent, John Prescott.
The speculation is that Brown may opt for veteran Jack Straw, currently his campaign manager for the leadership campaign, for the job.

Brown's election as the Labour leader comes amidst higher ratings in polls. Over the last few weeks and days, he has considerably enhanced his public image by travelling around the country and appearing on special shows on television where he succinctly put forth his vision for Britain.

Among the key themes driving Brown's vision, as articulated in most of his speeches inside and outside the House of Commons, are the challenges and opportunities posed by the growing economies of India and China. He visited India in January.

Among those in the audience was Blair, who is already being advised by various commentators and experts on what he should do as 'ex-prime minister'.

Brown has been among the first British politicians to recognize the opportunities and challenges presented by India to Britain's economy. India figures prominently in his interaction with the press, particularly its growing role in global issues such as climate change.

As he begins his passage to 10 Downing Street, India and Britain appear set for a new phase in their relationship in which economy, trade and business will become the predominant buzzwords.

A political heavyweight in the Labour party, Brown, 56, will not really have to exert much to deal with Indian leaders, in particular, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He developed a rapport with Manmohan Singh during the January visit.

Brown and Manmohan Singh share a strong academic background in economics: both have doctorates in the subject, Brown from the Edinburgh University and Manmohan Singh from Oxford. Manmohan Singh served as India's finance minister before becoming the prime minister, while Brown has trodden the same path.

NRI WOMAN MAY HEAD PM’S POLICY DIRECTORATE
London, PTI: Shriti Vadera, an Oxford-educated NRI, is tipped to head the policy directorate of the British Prime Minister when Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair on Wednesday.

The post would make Vadera, who is a special adviser to Chancellor Gordon Brown and a member of the Treasury’s Council of Economic Advisers since April 1999, one of the most powerful women in Britain.
The 44-year-old former banker has a fearsome reputation among civil servants for her trenchant manner, The Sunday Telegraph observed today.

“She is a towering influence on the future prime minister and has been present at many of his secret meetings with Britain’s most powerful figures,” the newspaper claimed.
For over 14 years, she was employed at investment bank Warburg Dillon Read. She worked in the firm’s banking, project finance, sovereign advisory and privatisation teams.

He was almost sacked
London, PTI:
Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to sack his successor Gordon Brown and break up the ministry he was heading just after the country’s 2005 general election, a media report said on Sunday.

A confidential document prepared two years ago by a trusted team of advisers in the prime minister’s “Strategy Unit” showed Blair planned to “scupper Brown’s career and break up the Treasury,” the Independent reported.
Blair intended to move Brown to another post to loosen his control over the domestic agenda, according to the document, which also included a briefing for a “new Chancellor”, the report said.

Marked “Copy No 1 - Prime Minister Confidential Policy”, the document also recommended qualities which should be possessed by Brown’s replacement, including “lack of personal investment in previous policies”.

The document adds that on the first day in office Blair should “convey to the new Chancellor” his plans to split the Treasury and hand many of its key roles, including responsibility for tax credits, to other ministries.

The plan was discarded because Brown was needed to rescue a “flagging election campaign” and a deal was struck which enabled the Chancellor to keep his job and also have a say in the post-election reshuffle, the report said.

The plan was designed to address Blair’s concerns that Brown’s powers over spending were so extensive that they worked “against the Government’s own spending priorities”, the report said.

So bitter was the relationship between the two in 2004 that the Chancellor’s patience once snapped and he told Blair, “There is nothing you could say to me now that I would ever believe,” the report said.