Global Changemakers

Tuesday saw the departure of the outgoing Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his family from Number 10 Downing Street, in what was the end to a chaotic 24 hours of uncertainty, and not knowing what was going to happen, we knew on Monday that Gordon had handed in his resignation as the Party Leader of the Labour Party but never expected him to stand down as Prime Minister the following day.

It came after negotiations between the Liberal Democrats and New Labour failed in being able to form a progressive coalition Government, giving the Liberal Democrats no other choice but to continue talks with the Conservatives and reach a decision on forming a stable, binding Government, which left Gordon Brown handing in his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to the Queen.

After a long solid thirteen years of a Labour Government, which saw Tony Blair first take the reigns for ten years, it was Gordon Brown (The Iron Man) to lead the country for the last three. We’ve seen the highs and the lows, but it has to be said this government will be remembered and will go down in the history books, it was this party that first introduced the Equal National Minimum Wage, Sure Start Centres for Families across the UK, they ended two decades of neglect for Public Services, gave equal rights to every person within this country careless of faith, sexuality and nationality, just to name a few of its accolades.

Gordon Brown was a true leader, a visionary to the many and an award winning Statesman for leading the world through the economic recovery, his term in office has been on the receiving end off a constant media backlash which at times got pretty vicious. But I’ve always been impressed by his caring nature to some of the world’s biggest plights that he made his own, it’s Gordon’s leadership that has seen half a million children out of poverty, children with more access to health care in Africa and across the world and an increase in overseas foreign aid.

I along with many other people around the World will miss both Gordon and Sarah Brown, I thank them for their leadership and for the love they have shown to this country and to the world, I wish them all the best in their future and I look forward to the day of seeing them both yet again.

But for now we welcome David Cameron as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

- Scott Forbes, Global Changemaker

I had the great pleasure of meeting Gordon Brown on several occasions through Global Changemakers – at Davos and Brussels in 2007 when he was Chancellor, and in London twice in 2009 as Prime Minister.

A great supporter of Global Changemakers, he loomed large on the international stage as a man whose commitment to issues of global justice was unchallenged – on education, on aid, on citizenship, interfaith and of course on addressing the global economic crisis.

Yet, despite all that he achieved as a statesman, he seemed and was perennially challenged at home. In person, he was charming, clever and confident. On TV – the arbiter of success in modern politics – he was cold, caustic and to be honest, a little creepy when he smiled.

So, after 13 years of Labour, it’s not a surprise to see the people of Britain change the government – a government that has much success to build on, but many challenges to confront. I can only hope that David Cameron invests the same time, energy and passion into supporting the world’s young people to create change in their communities and continue to support Global Changemakers.

- Simon Moss, Global Changemaker