358 lines
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Plaintext
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358 lines
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Executable File
news
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newstopics
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politics
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gordon-brown
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7706806
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-----
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# Gordon Brown to resign: highs and lows of his career in politics
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## Gordon Brown's 13 years in Government have taken him from the elation of
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becoming Prime Minister after a decade-long wait to the despondency of last
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week's election result.
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400
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227
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TelegraphPlayer-7708400
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[Link to this video][1]
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4:51PM BST 10 May 2010
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These are the key highs and lows of his often turbulent political career:
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**• HIGH - Being [elected][2] as an MP for the first time **
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[Mr Brown ][3]was returned as the member for Dunfermline East with a majority
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of 11,000 in 1983.
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He shared his first office in the House of Commons with another newly-elected
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[Labour][4] MP, a young barrister called Tony Blair.
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**• LOW - Missing out on the Labour leadership **
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## Related Articles
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* [Gordon Brown to resign as Prime Minister][5]
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10 May 2010
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* [Who will replace Brown as leader?][6]
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10 May 2010
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* [Brown to resign: full text of his statement][7]
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10 May 2010
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* [What will Gordon Brown do now?][8]
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10 May 2010
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After the surprise death of party leader John Smith in 1994, Mr Brown was
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viewed by many as a natural successor.
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But he struck a deal with Mr Blair under which the younger man would take the
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leadership in return for giving Mr Brown control of economic policy and later
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handing him power.
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**• HIGH - The 1997 Labour landslide **
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After 18 years out of power the party won a historic victory over the
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[Conservatives][9], achieving a massive 179-seat Commons majority.
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Mr Brown became Chancellor and built a power base at the heart of Whitehall
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that allowed him to shape many areas of domestic policy.
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**• HIGH - Giving the Bank of England independence **
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Days after taking office in 1997, Mr Brown announced he was giving the Bank of
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England freedom to set monetary policy.
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The surprise move was widely lauded as helping to usher in Britain's ''Nice''
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decade of ''non-inflationary constant expansion''.
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**• HIGH - Economic growth during his time at the Treasury **
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Over his 10 years at the Treasury, Mr Brown earned a reputation as the ''Iron
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Chancellor'' who promised there would be no return to ''boom and bust''.
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He oversaw strong growth in the UK's economy, although critics questioned how
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much of this success was down to him and argued that he should have cut public
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debt further.
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**• LOW - Controversy over economic policies **
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Some of the measures Mr Brown introduced as Chancellor were highly divisive,
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including the private finance initiative (PFI), a way of funding public
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capital projects like hospitals that is more expensive in the long term.
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There was also criticism of his decision to scrap tax relief on pension funds,
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his sell-off of part of Britain's gold reserves before prices soared, and his
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abolition of the 10p tax rate paid by people on low incomes.
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**• LOW - Being thwarted from becoming Prime Minister **
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It has never been confirmed what timescale - if any - Mr Blair gave for
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stepping down and handing over the top job.
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But Mr Brown became increasingly frustrated at being made to wait, and there
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were reports of furious rows behind the scenes in Downing Street as well as
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attempts by the Chancellor's supporters to force Mr Blair out.
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**• HIGH - Getting married **
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Mr Brown was romantically linked to a number of women over the years,
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including Princess Margarita of Romania.
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But he remained a bachelor until the age of 49, when he married PR executive
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Sarah Macaulay in Scotland in August 2000. He described their relationship as
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''a modern love story''.
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**• LOW - The death of his daughter **
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The couple's first child, Jennifer Jane, was born prematurely on December 28
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2001 and died 10 days later after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
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Mr Brown has spoken of how he struggled to cope with the loss and could not
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listen to music for nearly a year.
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**• HIGH - The births of his two sons **
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Mr and Mrs Brown went on to have two boys, John in 2003 and Fraser in 2006.
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Fraser was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis soon after he was born.
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**• HIGH - Becoming Prime Minister **
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Mr Brown finally replaced Mr Blair at No 10 Downing Street on June 27 2007.
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After waiting for so many years, he wasted no time in appointing his own
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Cabinet and pledging to restore trust in politics.
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**• HIGH - Early popularity as Prime Minister **
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In his first months at No 10, Mr Brown was praised for his handling of crises
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including failed terrorist attacks, flooding, a foot and mouth disease
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outbreak and the run on Northern Rock.
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He also won respect for his ''big tent'' approach to politics, appearing to
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heal rifts within Labour and reaching out to members of other parties.
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**• LOW - The ''bottled'' election **
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Mr Brown considered calling a snap election in autumn 2007, but dropped the
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idea after the Tories received a poll boost by promising to cut inheritance
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tax.
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His decision led to him being branded a ''ditherer'' and meant Labour
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eventually faced a public vote when electoral conditions were far less
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favourable.
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**• LOW: Leadership challenges **
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As Mr Brown's premiership became more unpopular, he faced growing unrest
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within his party - and eventually several unsuccessful coup attempts.
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But even the most credible challenges to his leadership - half-heartedly by
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Foreign Secretary David Miliband in July 2008, and seriously by resigning work
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and pensions secretary James Purnell in June 2009 - failed to trigger an all-
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out Cabinet rebellion.
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**• LOW - The global financial crisis **
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The economic storm that ravaged financial institutions worldwide plunged the
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UK into recession and required a massive Government bailout of British banks.
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Mr Brown was widely praised for his response to the crisis, but fears about
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jobs, wages and public debt levels dented Labour's popularity.
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**• LOW - The ''smeargate'' scandal **
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A close aide to Mr Brown, Damian McBride, resigned in disgrace in April 2009
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after the revelation of an email plot to tarnish senior Tories' reputations
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with false internet allegations.
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The affair revived concerns that British politics had become dominated by
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''spin'' and dirty tricks.
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**• LOW: Bullying allegations **
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Claims that Mr Brown swore at and shoved around his Downing Street staff were
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aired in journalist Andrew Rawnsley's book The End Of The Party, published in
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February this year.
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Ministers denied the allegations, and there was some evidence that Mr Brown's
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poll ratings actually improved after they emerged.
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**• LOW: Leadership debates in the 2010 General Election **
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Mr Brown did not shine in the new televised leaders' debates that formed the
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centrepiece of this year's General Election campaign.
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Polls and pundits generally agreed that Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg won
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the first debate and drew the second with Tory leader David Cameron, with the
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final one going to Mr Cameron. Mr Brown was placed last in all of them.
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**• LOW: The ''bigotgate'' scandal **
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While campaigning for the election in Rochdale, Mr Brown was caught on
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microphone describing local pensioner Gillian Duffy as ''bigoted'' after she
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quizzed him about immigration.
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He made a personal visit to her home to apologise, but political opponents
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seized on the gaffe as evidence that he held voters in contempt.
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**• LOW: Losing Labour's majority **
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In a dramatic election night, Labour lost 91 seats and the Conservatives
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gained 97 to become the largest party in the Commons, albeit 20 short of a
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majority.
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The result was better than some Labour members had feared, but it left Mr
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Brown in constitutional limbo as the Lib-Dems and Tories discussed power-
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sharing arrangements.
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][11]
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* Share: [Share][10] [ ][12] [ ][13]
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[Tweet][14]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/7706806/Gordon-Brown-to-
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resign-highs-and-lows-of-his-career-in-politics.html
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Telegraph
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## [Gordon Brown][15]
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* ### [News »][16]
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* ### [Politics »][17]
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* ### [Labour »][18]
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* ### [UK News »][19]
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In news
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[![Gordon Brown: his career as Prime Minister in pictures][20]][21]
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### [In pictures: Brown as PM][21]
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[![4 June 2009: Front pages national newspapers featuring headlines about
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Gordon Brown are pictured as voting began for European parliament and local
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authority elections][22]][23]
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### [Brown's highs and lows][23]
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[![][24]][25]
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### [Thirteen years of Labour][25]
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[![David Cameron, accompanied by his wife Samantha, waves in front of 10
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Downing Street in London ][26] ][27]
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### [Prime Ministerial handover][27]
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][11]
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Share:
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* [ ][10]
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* [ ][12]
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* [ ][13]
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* [Tweet][14]
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* Advertisement
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![][28]
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Advertisement
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[UK Political Database »][29]
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Search Telegraph.co.uk's UK Political Database.
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