Gordon Brown has been Tony Blair’s strongest rival in the Labour Party for a decade now

Gordon Brown has been Tony Blair’s strongest rival in the Labour Party for a decade now, and has been

the Chancellor of the Exchequer from the day Blair took office. From that time, Brown has been

considered the heir apparent, and from that time, Blair’s supporters have sniped at him and sought an

alternative.

But why is that? A cursory glance at their respective positions reveal no glaring differences in

policy. The biggest differences appear to be personal. Brown’s public condemnation of Oxford

admissions policy made him a lot of enemies, particularly those close to the Oxford-educated Blair, and

Blair’s support for the Euro may well have rubbed the Chancellor the wrong way, but their similarities

as public advocates of “Third Way”-style New Labour would seem to make them allies, albeit reluctant

ones.

What would Gordon Brown’s foreign policy be?

The $64,000 question, especially for most readers of this site, is what (if any) foreign policy changes

would we see under a Brown Premiership. The answer, unfortunately, is far from clear.