Unfit To Govern

Born: 25 April, 1960
Where: London
Father: Maurice Peston, economist and Labour Peer
Mother: NHS Employee
School: local comprehensive school
Further Ed: Balliol College, Oxford.  Graduated 1982.

Peston is the son of economist and later Labour peer Maurice Peston and his wife who was employed by the NHS. Robert attended the local comprehensive school, Highgate Wood Secondary School, in Crouch End, North London. He graduated from Balliol College, Oxford in 1982, and then studied at the Université Libre de Bruxelles after winning a scholarship.

After working briefly as a stockbroker Robert became a journalist in 1983 and joined the new Independent newspaper in 1986.  From 1991-2000 he had various positions including Political Editor and Banking Editor.  In 2002 he joined the Sunday Telegraph as City Editor becoming associate editor in 2005. Robert Preston has been the BBC’s business editor since 13 February 2006.

Peston published his biography of Gordon Brown Brown’s Britain in January 2005, which details the rivalry between Gordon Brown and the then Prime Minister Tony Blair. In February 2008, Hodder & Stoughton published Peston’s latest book, “Who Runs Britain? How the Super-Rich are Changing our Lives.” In The Guardian.

Peston’s scoop on Northern Rock seeking emergency financial help from the Bank of England won the Royal Television Society’s Television Journalism Award for Scoop of the Year in the 2007/8 awards and the Wincott Award for Business News/Current Affairs Programme of the Year. He was Journalist of the Year in the Business Journalism of the Year Awards for 2007/08, and also won in the Scoop category.

He is married to the writer Sian Busby, writer of a book about the warrior queen Boudicca. The couple have two sons. He is a lifelong Arsenal supporter.

Source links: About Robert Peston (BBC), Wikipedia,

Born: born 23 May 1971
Where: London
Father: Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet,
School: Two independent schools in west London; at Norland Place School in Holland Park and St Paul’s School in Barnes (near Hammersmith)
Further Ed: Magdalen College at the University of Oxford, where he received a 2:1 in Modern History

Osborne is the eldest son of four children and heir of Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet, who co-founded the firm of fabric and wallpapers designers, Osborne & Little. Originally named Gideon, he changed his name to George when he was 13. In an interview in July 2005, Osborne said: “It was my small act of rebellion. I never liked it. When I finally told my mother she said, ‘Nor do I’. So I decided to be George after my grandfather, who was a war hero. Life was easier as a George; it was a straightforward name.”

He joined the Conservative Research Department in 1994 and became head of the Political Section. Elected as the Member of Parliament for Tatton, Cheshire, in June 2001, he succeeded the Independent MP Martin Bell, who had famously defeated the controversial former Conservative minister Neil Hamilton at the 1997 election. Osborne won with a majority of 8,611, becoming (at that time) the youngest Conservative MP in the House of Commons. At the 2005 election, he was re-elected with an increased majority.

George is married to the writer Frances Osborne. They have two young children and they live in London and Cheshire.

Following the 2005 general election, he was promoted to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer at the young age of 33 by the then-Conservative Party leader Michael Howard. His appointment to such a senior shadow cabinet post at such a young age surprised many Conservative MPs.

In 2009, he received criticism for the way he had handled his expenses, after he was found to have “flipped” his second  home, changing which property he designated as his second home in order to pay less capital gains tax. The Lib Dems estimated he owed £55,000 to the public purse as a result of this.

Osborne was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on 12 May 2010 and as per custom with Cabinet Minsters, was sworn in as a Privy Counsellor the next day.

On 24 May 2010, he outlined £6.2bn cuts. Among the bigger savings for this financial year outlined by Osborne were £683m at the Department for Transport, £780m at Communities and Local Government, £836m at Business, £670m at Education and £325m Department for Justice. Osborne said: “We simply cannot afford to increase public debt at the rate of £3bn each week. Our huge public debts threatened financial stability and if left unchecked would derail the economic recovery.” He continued saying “Public borrowing is only taxation deferred and it would be deeply irresponsible to continue to accumulate vast debts that would have to be paid off by our children, and our grand children for many decades to come.“^[

I know it’s unfair to write this in a profile but the cuts initiated in his emergency budget will have no effect on the wealth or financial status of George Osborne.

Source links: Tom Watson MP – George Osborne, Wikipedia – George Osborne, George Osbortne

Born: 20 Feb, 1951 in Giffnock, Renfrewshire, Scotland (James Gordon Brown)
Father: John Ebenezer Brown, minister of the Church of Scotland (died 1998)
Mother: Jessie Elizabeth Souter, known as Bunty, daughter of a Timber Merchant (died 2004)
School: Kirkcaldy High School
Graduated: from Edinburgh University with First Class Honours MA in 1972

The young Gordon was brought up in the Manse in Kirkaldy, the largest town in Fife, Scotland across the river Forth from Edinburgh. After taking part in an experimental ‘fast track’ education program he entered Edinburgh University at the young age of 16. During an end-of-term school rugby union he received a kick to the head and suffered a retinal detachment. This has left him blind in his left eye.

After graduating with a 1st class honours MA in 1972 he stayed on to complete his PhD (which he gained ten years later in 1982), titled The Labour Party and Political Change in Scotland 1918–29.  From 1976 to 1980 Brown was employed as a lecturer in Politics at Glasgow College of Technology.

1n 1979 he stood for Parliament but lost to a Conservative, Michael Ancram. He was elected to Parliament on his second attempt as a Labour MP for Dunfermline East in 1983. The Conservatives were in power. His first Westminster office mate was a newly elected MP from the Sedgefield constituency called Tony Blair.

He remained an opposition Labour MP for over 10 years until the landslide labour victory in 1997 when Tony Blair became Prime Minister.  (It has long been rumoured that a deal was struck between Blair and Brown at a restaurant in Islington, in which Blair promised to give Brown control of economic policy in return for Brown not standing against him in the leadership election which took place prior to the General Election).

He was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. He immediately made his mark by giving the Bank of England operational independence in monetary policy, and responsibility for setting interest rates through the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee. He also transferred banking supervision responsibility to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Brown’s ten years and two months as Chancellor of the Exchequer made him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history.

At the age of 49, Brown married Sarah Macaulay in a private ceremony at his home in North Queensferry, Fife, on 3 August 2000. The Browns have 2 children, John & James. James has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Unfortunately a 3rd child, Jennifer Jane, was born prematurely and died in 2002

When Blair announced in September 2006 that he would step down within a year Brown was the clear favourite to succeed him.  Brown finally became the Prime Minister on 27 June 2007.

Brown’s premiership coincided with the global recession, during which the United Kingdom led calls for fiscal action to stimulate aggregate demand. Domestically, Brown’s administration introduced a range of measures including a bank rescue package worth around £500 billion (approximately $850 billion), a temporary 2.5% cut in Value Added Tax (Sales Tax) and a “car scrappage” scheme.

In April 2009, Brown gave what was the first ever speech by a serving Prime Minister at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Brown remained Prime Minister until Labour’s defeat in the May 2010 election after which he resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Brown confirmed he intends to stay on in Parliament, serving as a Labour Backbencher, in order to serve the people of his Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency.

This profile is an extract of the entry for Gordon Brown on Wikipedia.

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When Born: 21 May 1949 (age 61 )
Where Born: Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Father: Professional Soldier
School: Paisley Grammar School
Graduated: 1971 with MA Political Economy and Political Science from Glasgow University

At University he was tutored by Vince Cable.  He worked for the Conservative Party as a Reaserach Assistant and joined the Economist in 1973.  His big break came when he was controvertially appointed as Editor of the Suday Times in 1983 and remained there till 1994.

In 1988 he became founding chairman of Sky TV. He also brought The Simpsons to UK television.  After a less than amicable separation from the Sunday Times he became a writer for the Daily Mail. Neil then became the Editor-in-Chief of ‘Barclay Brothers’ Press Holding group which included The Scotsman.  This was sold in 2005.  He became chairman of Press Holdings in 2008

As well as his Newspaper career he is often seen on TV.  Neil is currently presenting This Week (BBC) with ex-Conservative minister Michael Portillo, and, until recently, Labour MP for Hackney, Diane Abbott. Neil also presents the weekly one-on-one political interview programme Straight Talk on the BBC News Channel.

This profile was condensed from the entry on Wikipedia.

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