Fact check reveals Gordon Brown growth claim omits financial crisis years

A recent fact-check examined the claim that the UK’s economy expanded more than twice as quickly under Gordon Brown as it did during the subsequent 14 years of Conservative rule. The original comparison uses average annual per-capita GDP growth while Brown was chancellor, yielding a 2.3% versus 0.9% gap and a 2.6-fold increase. Critics note that this excludes the 2008-09 financial crisis years, which, when added, lower Brown’s average to 1.4% and the multiplier to 1.6.

Using real, inflation-adjusted GDP across the entire 1997-2010 and 2010-2024 periods shows growth of 27.3% versus 24.3%, still not approaching a doubling. The analysis also points out that the time frames differ slightly, with Brown’s tenure being marginally shorter. Overall, the data suggest the “more than double” claim is misleading.