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This article fact-checks claims about economic growth under former Chancellor Gordon Brown by analyzing GDP data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The comparison shows that during his time as chancellor, annual GDP per capita grew at an average of 2.3% compared to 0.9% over subsequent Conservative years, indicating almost triple the growth rate. However, including periods affected by the financial crisis and the start of the current Labour government reduces this advantage to a factor of 1.6 times. The article also evaluates real GDP changes across longer periods, showing growth rates under Brown slightly outpacing those during Conservative rule but not doubling it.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The Press Association reported on a statement by John Healey, former Labour MP, who claimed that economic growth during Gordon Brown's tenure as Chancellor was more than double that under the Conservative Party. HM Treasury clarified this claim using Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures focusing solely on GDP growth per capita during Brown’s time as chancellor and the Conservatives' 14 years in power. According to these figures, average annual GDP growth per capita was 2.3% during Brown's period compared to 0.9% under the Conservatives, indicating economic growth was nearly 2.6 times higher under Brown.
However, when including the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, which occurred after Brown became Prime Minister, the GDP measures show that while the economy still grew more under Brown overall, the difference is not as pronounced as "more than double." Thus, excluding this critical period skews the economic growth comparison unfairly in favor of Brown's record.
Written for “Economic Growth Under Gordon Brown” on 2026-10-12,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
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No political leaning scored for article 74048 · logged 2026-10-12
The comparison of economic growth under Mr Brown is accurate only when focusing on his time as chancellor and measuring the average of year-on-year growth.
asserted
comparison → focus → growth
This excludes the period he was prime minister and therefore removes the impact of the 2008 financial crisis.
asserted
he → exclude → crisis
Including the period that Mr Brown was prime minister, gross domestic product (GDP) measures show the economy still grew more under him than the 14 subsequent years under the Conservative Party.
asserted
economy → include → Party
The Government’s measure
HM Treasury told the Press Association that Mr Healey’s comment is based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures for GDP growth per capita, focusing on the average during Mr Brown’s time as chancellor and during the Conservatives’ 14 years in power.
asserted
comment → tell → power
It said that during Mr Brown’s time in No 11 Downing Street, average annual GDP growth per capita was 2.3%, compared with 0.9% over the Conservative years.
asserted
growth → say → years
This comparison suggests economic growth during Mr Brown’s time as chancellor was 2.6 times that under the Conservatives.
uncertain
growth → suggest → Conservatives
What Mr Healey excludes
asserted
excludes → exclude → What
When including GDP per head growth in 2008, 2009, and 2010, the average increase under Mr Brown falls to 1.4%.
asserted
increase → include → %
It should also be noted the figure for 2007 overlaps with Mr Brown’s time as prime minister, 2010 includes the start of the Conservative-led government, and 2024 includes the start of the current Labour Government.
asserted
2024 → note → Government
While annual GDP per head growth measures short-term changes and takes into account population size, overall UK GDP in cash terms can be used to measure growth over several years.
asserted
GDP → measure → years
The latter is available from the ONS in real terms (discounting for inflation) and broken down by quarter.
asserted
latter → discount → quarter
Read More
The first full quarter during Mr Brown’s period as chancellor is the three months to September 1997, while his final measure as prime minister is the three months to March 2010 – a period of almost 13 years.
asserted
measure → read → years
Real GDP grew 27.3% between these quarters, reaching £573.4 billion in the final measure.
asserted
GDP → grow → measure
Real GDP grew 24.3% across this period, reaching £726.1 billion.
asserted
GDP → grow → billion
This approach includes the impact of the financial crisis as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, and suggests the economy under Mr Brown’s time as chancellor and prime minister did not grow at more than twice the rate under the Conservatives.
uncertain
economy → include → Conservatives
It should be noted that Mr Brown’s time in Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street was slightly shorter than the Conservatives’ time in power.
asserted
time → note → power
These figures show GDP per head in 2024 terms rose 18.6% under Mr Brown, from £7,718 in the three months to September 1997 to £9,155 in the three months to March 2010.
asserted
GDP → show → March
It was a larger increase than the 12.9% growth under the Conservatives – rising from £9,286 per head in the three months to September 2010 to £10,484 in the three months to June 2024.
asserted
It → rise → June
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