Gordon Brown delivered a highly personal speech as he confirmed that he was standing down as an MP at the next general election. The former prime minister, who was speaking at a Labour Party meeting in Fife, Scotland, gave a special mention to his "incredible" wife Sarah at the Monday event. Bidding farewell in his Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, Mr Brown was supported by his wife of 14 years Sarah and their two sons John and Fraser, seated in the audience. The politician also remembered his baby daughter Jennifer in his speech, who was born prematurely in 2001 and died a few days later.
© Photo: Getty ImagesGordon Brown was supported by his two sons John and Fraser and his wife Sarah
"I will not forget, Sarah will not forget, the strength you gave us when our daughter Jennifer was born and then died," said Mr Brown. A research laboratory was set up in his first child's name following her untimely passing. Honouring his wife, Mr Brown added: "For her love and for her support in every campaign we've done – national elections, local elections – Sarah was incredible in giving me support and supporting the Labour Party." The 63-year-old said that he had "no doubt" in his decision to step down, and that he was leaving front-line politics and not his constituency.
© Photo: Getty ImagesGordon Brown remembered his baby daughter Jennifer who passed away shortly after birth
"We are not leaving Fife," said Mr Brown. "It is London that I am leaving. For the avoidance of any doubt, I'm not going back to Westminster, not to the House of Commons after the general elections and not to the House of Lords. "It is Fife where our home is and where we will be, where our children John and Fraser – who are here tonight – are happily at school." The politician, who was chancellor from 1997 to 2007, added that it was time to hand over the constituency to a new person with "new ideas".
© Photo: Getty ImagesGordon Brown thanked his wife Sarah for her 'love and support'
Mr Brown and Sarah, who called her husband her "hero", will continue their work on global education projects, with the Scotsman from Fife working as a United Nations Special Envoy on Global Education. "I've known Gordon always as a Member of Parliament and I think most decisions we'd make together as a family or as a couple but actually this one was for him alone," Sarah told BBC after her husband's announcement. "So, yeah, it's the end of this particular era."
