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{{Short description|British activist and campaigner and former spouse of the prime minister}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2013}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
{{Infobox person
|name = Sarah Brown
|birthname = Sarah Jane Macaulay | name = Sarah Brown
| image = Gordon and Sarah Brown (cropped).jpg
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|10|31|df=yes}}
|birth_place = ], Buckinghamshire, England | caption = Brown in 2009
| known_for = {{blist|] (2007–2010)|Founder and president of Theirworld, a children's charity|Executive chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education|Co-founder of A World at School}}
|image = Sarah_Brown_2008.jpg
|imagesize = 145px | birth_name = Sarah Jane Macaulay
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1963|10|31}}
|caption = Sarah Brown in 2008
| birth_place = ], Buckinghamshire, England
|children = Jennifer Jane <small>(b. 2001-d.2002)</small><br>John <small>(born 2003)</small><br>James Fraser <small>(born 2006)</small>
| spouse = {{marriage|]|3 August 2000}}
|order = ]
|term_start = 27 June 2007 | children = 3
|term_end = 11 May 2010 | alma_mater = ]
|monarch = ] | website = {{url|gordonandsarahbrown.com}}
|spouse = ]<br/><small>(m. 2000–present)</small>
|children = Jennifer Jane <small>(Deceased)</small><br>John Macaulay<br>James Fraser
|alma_mater = ]
|primeminister = ]
|predecessor = ]
|successor = ]
|residence = ] <small>(private)</small>
|nationality = British
|party = ]
}} }}
'''Sarah Jane Brown''' (née '''Macaulay'''; born 31 October 1963) is the ] of former British Prime Minister ], the founder and president of Theirworld, a children's charity, and a founding partner of Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications, a ] company. Brown is also the Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education and the co-founder of A World At School.<ref>http://gordonandsarahbrown.com/sarah-brown/</ref> '''Sarah Jane Brown''' ({{nee|'''Macaulay'''}}; born 31 October 1963), usually known as '''Sarah Brown''', is an English campaigner for global health and education, founder and president of the children's charity Theirworld, the executive chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education and the co-founder of A World at School.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gordonandsarahbrown.com/sarah-brown/ |title=Sarah Brown |work=gordonandsarahbrown.com |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922220240/http://gordonandsarahbrown.com/sarah-brown/ |archive-date=22 September 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>


She was a founding partner of Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications, a ] company. She is married to ], who served as ] from 1997 to 2007 and ] from 2007 to 2010.<!--Special envoy position seems to be current not "former" per https://web.archive.org/web/20120714123716/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jul/13/gordon-brown-un-envoy-children -->
==Early life==
Sarah Jane Macaulay was born in ], Buckinghamshire<ref name="Allison">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2000/aug/03/uk.politicalnews2|title=How Macaulay triumphed when so many others failed|last=Allison|first=Rebecca|date=3 August 2000|work=]|accessdate=27 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Andy Beckett |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/sep/25/women-gordon-brown |title=Can Sarah Brown rescue Labour? |publisher=Guardian |date=25 September 2009 |accessdate=27 June 2010 | location=London}}</ref> on 31 October 1963.<ref name="Hello!">{{cite web|author=Home |url=http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/sarah-brown/ |title=Hello! profile |publisher=Hellomagazine.com |date= |accessdate=27 June 2010}}</ref> Her mother Pauline was a teacher and her father Iain<ref name="Hello!"/> worked for publisher ]. Macaulay spent her early childhood in Fife,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/who-is-sarah-brown-451300.html |title=Independent profile |publisher=Independent.co.uk |date=3 June 2007 |accessdate=27 June 2010 | location=London}}</ref> before moving to ]. When she was 8 her parents separated. Both then remarried and her mother and stepfather took her and her two younger brothers, Sean and Bruce,<ref name="Sun split">{{cite news|author=By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON Political Editor |url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2048522.ece |title=PM's wife: My pain as parents split |publisher=Thesun.co.uk |date=18 December 2008 |accessdate=27 June 2010 |location=London}}</ref> to live in ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1097112/Sarah-Brown-reveals-trauma-parents-split-launches-campaign-help-broken-Britain.html |title=Sarah Brown reveals trauma of her parents' split as she launches campaign to help broken Britain |publisher=Dailymail.co.uk |date=18 December 2008 |accessdate=27 June 2010 | location=London}}</ref>


==Early life and career==
She was educated in North London at ] and ],<ref></ref> and took a ] degree at the ].<ref name="Lady in waiting">Gaby Hinsliff ''The Observer'', 2 October 2005, Retrieved on 30 March 2008</ref>
Sarah Jane Macaulay was born in ], ]<ref name="Allison">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/aug/03/uk.politicalnews2 |title=How Macaulay triumphed when so many others failed |last=Allison |first=Rebecca |date=3 August 2000 |work=] |access-date=27 March 2013 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425074124/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/aug/03/uk.politicalnews2 |archive-date=25 April 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Andy Beckett |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/sep/25/women-gordon-brown |title=Can Sarah Brown rescue Labour? |publisher=Guardian |date=25 September 2009 |access-date=27 June 2010 |location=London |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425072813/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/sep/25/women-gordon-brown |archive-date=25 April 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> on 31 October 1963.<ref name="Hello!">{{cite web |url=http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/sarah-brown/ |title=Hello! profile |date=7 January 2010 |publisher=Hellomagazine.com |access-date=27 June 2010 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715035427/http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/sarah-brown/ |archive-date=15 July 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Her mother Pauline was a teacher and her father Iain<ref name="Hello!"/> worked for publisher ]. Macaulay spent her infancy in ],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/who-is-sarah-brown-451300.html |title=Independent profile |publisher=Independent.co.uk |date=3 June 2007 |access-date=27 June 2010 |location=London |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304133137/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/who-is-sarah-brown-451300.html |archive-date=4 March 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> before her family moved to ]—where her mother was to operate a school—when she was two years old.<ref name="Seldon"/><ref name="Hinsliff">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/dec/03/labour.uk |title=Inside the world of Mrs Brown |last=Hinsliff |first=Gary |date=3 December 2006 |work=The Observer |access-date=18 October 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025005419/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/dec/03/labour.uk |archive-date=25 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> When she was eight, her parents separated and later, each remarried. Her mother, stepfather, she, and her two younger brothers, Sean and Bruce, resettled in ].


There, she was educated at ] and ],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3356979/Town-vs-gown-north-London.html |title=Town vs gown: north London |author=Max Davidson |date=6 September 2008 |work=Telegraph.co.uk |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731185429/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3356979/Town-vs-gown-north-London.html |archive-date=31 July 2017 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and later took a ] degree at the ].<ref name="Lady in waiting">Gaby Hinsliff , {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824221438/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/oct/02/labour.uk |date=24 August 2017 }} ''The Observer'', 2 October 2005, Retrieved on 30 March 2008</ref>
==Career==
After leaving university, Sarah Macaulay worked at the brand consultancy ]. At age 30 she founded the public-relations firm Hobsbawm Macaulay, in partnership with an old school friend, ]. Their clients have included '']'' (owned by ]<ref name="Lady in waiting" />) and the ].


Upon leaving university, she worked at the brand consultancy ]. When she was thirty, she founded the public relations firm Hobsbawm Macaulay, in partnership with an old school friend, ]. Their clients included the '']'' (owned by ]),<ref name="Lady in waiting" /> The ] and trade unions.<ref name="Hinsliff"/> In 2000, she married ], and in October 2001 left Hobsbawm Macaulay after finding out she was pregnant with her first child.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1606679.stm |title=Chancellor's wife to quit full-time work |work=BBC News |date=18 October 2001 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824223738/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1606679.stm |archive-date=24 August 2017 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Marriage and children==
She first met ] briefly at a political event. In 1994, they shared a flight from London to Scotland for the ] conference and after this meeting the two began seeing each other regularly.<ref name="world of Mrs Brown">{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,,1962892,00.html|title=Inside the world of Mrs Brown| work=]|date =3 December 2006|publisher=The Guardian|author=Gaby Hinsliff|location=London}}</ref>


==Charitable work: public health and education advocacy==
The relationship was kept secret until 1997, when the '']'' published a picture of them together in a restaurant in London.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970629/ai_n14102173| title =Snapper grabs photo of Chancellor with woman!| work=]|date =29 June 1997|publisher =findarticles.com| deadurl=yes}} {{Dead link|date=August 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref> They were married on 3 August 2000 in Brown's home town, ], ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/864413.stm|title =Gordon and Sarah wed at home|work=]|date=3 August 2000}}</ref>


===Focus on maternal, newborn and child health and education===
In 2001, she left Hobsbawm Macaulay after finding out she was pregnant with her first child.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1606679.stm| title =Chancellor's wife to quit full-time work
In 2002, Brown founded the charity Theirworld – originally known as PiggyBankKids – which began as a research fund to tackle complications in pregnancy, and in 2004 the charity founded the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory at the ]. The laboratory's work is notable for its unified obstetric and neonatal approach to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, with a particular focus on preterm births.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.crh.ed.ac.uk/the-jennifer-brown-research-laboratory-2/ |title=University of Edinburgh MRC Centre for Reproductive Health: The Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory |date=19 April 2014 |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820001154/http://www.crh.ed.ac.uk/the-jennifer-brown-research-laboratory-2/ |archive-date=20 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
| work=BBC News | date =18 October 2001 | publisher =}}</ref> On 28 December 2001 she gave birth prematurely to daughter Jennifer Jane, who died at 10 days old.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1732415.stm | title =Chancellor becomes a father| work=BBC News | date =28 December 2001 | publisher =}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1747863.stm | title =Browns' baby dies in hospital|work=BBC News | date =7 January 2002 | publisher =}}</ref> In 2002 she founded the charity ''Piggy Bank Kids'', which began as a research fund to tackle complications in pregnancy, and has now expanded into a range of projects helping disadvantaged children. ] has spoken of Sarah's bravery after their daughter's death.<ref>{{cite news|author=Nicholas Watt |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/feb/12/gordon-brown-interview-baby-jennifer |title=Gordon Brown opens his heart on his baby's death, Sarah's bravery, and Blair &#124; Politics |publisher=The Guardian |date=12 February 2010 |accessdate=28 April 2010 | location=London}}</ref>


On 16 November 2015, Brown launched the Theirworld Birth Cohort project, a £1.5million study aimed at improving the health of women and their children who are born prematurely, at Edinburgh University as part of the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Launch of the Edinburgh Birth Cohort Study {{!}} Upcoming Events {{!}} |url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/clinical-brain-sciences/news/upcoming-events/edinburgh-birth-cohort-launch |website=www.ed.ac.uk |access-date=24 November 2015 }}{{dead link|date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The project will track the development of 400 babies, most of whom are born before 32 weeks, following them through to adulthood, tracking educational attainment to help identify the causes and consequences of brain injury at birth and help speed the development of new treatments that could improve the health of prematurely born babies.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Premature babies care study launched by Sarah Brown – BBC News |work=BBC News |date=16 November 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-34832194 |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120125439/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-34832194 |archive-date=20 January 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sarah Brown launches £1.5m study into premature births |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/sarah-brown-launches-1-5m-study-into-premature-births-1-3949723 |website=www.scotsman.com |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124172642/http://www.scotsman.com/news/sarah-brown-launches-1-5m-study-into-premature-births-1-3949723 |archive-date=24 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Sarah Brown launches £1.5m premature babies care study – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/sarah-brown-launches-15m-premature-babies-care-study-34204321.html |newspaper=Belfasttelegraph |access-date=24 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sarah Brown launches £1.5 million premature babies care study |url=http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/sarah-brown-launches-1-5-million-premature-babies-care-study-1.910608 |website=www.thecourier.co.uk |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118105341/http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/sarah-brown-launches-1-5-million-premature-babies-care-study-1.910608 |archive-date=18 November 2015 }}</ref>
On 17 October 2003, she gave birth to their second child and first son, John.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3201048.stm|title =Browns celebrate baby boy|work=BBC News|date=17 October 2003}}</ref> Another son, James Fraser, arrived on 17 July 2006 <ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5191650.stm|title =Brown names new baby James Fraser|work=BBC News|date =18 July 2006}}</ref> and was diagnosed with ] that November.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6157891.stm|title =Brown's son has cystic fibrosis|work=BBC News|date =26 November 2006}}</ref>


Theirworld, which was launched in early 2013 through the ''A World at School'' digital movement, also has a strong focus on global education. As well as the #UpForSchool petition, it also organised the first ever "youth takeover" of the United Nations in July 2013,<ref>{{Cite web |title=RESULTS {{!}} Blog {{!}} Malala and Youth Take Over the UN on 12 July|url = http://www.results.org/blog/malala_and_youth_take_over_the_un_on_july_12th/|website = www.results.org|access-date = 24 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151124143025/http://www.results.org/blog/malala_and_youth_take_over_the_un_on_july_12th/|archive-date = 24 November 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=United Nations Girls' Education Initiative – Global Section – Malala Day: UN Youth Takeover |url=http://www.ungei.org/247_3236.html |website=UNGEI |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081452/http://www.ungei.org/247_3236.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and has campaigned on the provision of education to children effected by conflict and disaster, particularly including refugees of the Syria crisis in Lebanon.
]


Brown is also the founding chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education, the objective of which is to work with business leaders and CEOs to support and galvanise international action to achieve quality education for all the world's children;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://gordonandsarahbrown.com/sarah-brown/ |title=Office of Gordon and Sarah Brown |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922220240/http://gordonandsarahbrown.com/sarah-brown/ |archive-date=22 September 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> she is also a member of the High Level Panel for Global Education,<ref>Official Website, accessed 28 March 2013</ref> initiated by the coalition.
==Public perception==
As wife of the Prime Minister, Brown was generally viewed favourably.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7628151.stm|title=PM's wife is a hit on the fringe|author=Emma Griffiths|publisher=BBC News|date=21 September 2008|accessdate=23 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/opinion/2008/07/30/do3005.xml|title=What Sarah Brown could learn from Cherie Blair|work=]|author=Liz Hunt|date=30 July 2008|accessdate=23 September 2008 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6240852.stm|title=Sarah Brown: The new 'first lady'|publisher=BBC News|date=28 June 2007|accessdate=23 September 2008}}</ref> '']'' noted her public image, saying, "her positive profile could be the best thing ] has got going for it with the election looming."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gallery/2009/sep/24/sarah-brown-popular-twitter?picture=353403929|title=The Reinvention of Sarah Brown |publisher=The Guardian|author= |date=24 September 2009|accessdate=29 September 2009 | location=London}}</ref> The ] saw no party command an overall majority, but the Conservative Party led by ] had the most seats, and ultimately formed a government in ] on 11 May 2010 after ]'s attempts to keep Labour in power failed.


In 2008 Brown became global patron of ], the grassroots led maternal health advocacy movement, and co-founded the Maternal Mortality Campaign. Her leadership on the issue has been recognised with her appointment as a member of the External Advisory Group of the world-leading Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health at the ],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mnhu.org/about-cmnh/external-advisory-group/ |title=LSTM Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health – EAG |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022100733/http://www.mnhu.org/about-cmnh/external-advisory-group/ |archive-date=22 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and as an adjunct professor at the Institute of Global Health Innovation at ].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/centres/globalhealth/newssummary/news_4-4-2012-17-16-13 |title=Imperial College Institute of Global Health Innovation: "Sarah Brown joins the Institute" |date=4 April 2012 |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701174057/http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/centres/globalhealth/newssummary/news_4-4-2012-17-16-13 |archive-date=1 July 2015 |df=dmy-all}}
==Publication==
</ref>
]]]
Brown published a memoir of her role as the Prime Minister's Spouse, entitled ''Behind the Black Door'' through Ebury Press in 2011.<ref>{{cite book|title=Behind the Black Door|author=Sarah Brown|publisher=Ebury Press|year=2011|isbn=9780091940577}}</ref>


In 2009, Brown gave the keynote speech at the ]'s 62nd World Health Assembly, alongside United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://who.int/pmnch/media/events/2009/20090518_wha/en/ |title=Leaders urge World Health Assembly to invest in maternal health and health systems |date=19 May 2009 |access-date=5 August 2014 |website=World Health Organization |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808051034/http://who.int/pmnch/media/events/2009/20090518_wha/en/ |archive-date=8 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In her speech she asked "where is the M in MCH?' " in an echo of ]'s landmark ''] ''article of 1985, highlighting that the numbers of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth were still the same approximately 20 years later.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2009/wha62/sarah_brown_speech_20090519/en/ |title=Keynote address to 62nd World Health Assembly, Sarah Brown, Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood |date=19 May 2009 |access-date=5 August 2014 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808051129/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2009/wha62/sarah_brown_speech_20090519/en/ |archive-date=8 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
The book received an unfavourable reception from most reviewers. Written in a diary style, the '']'' describes it as "perhaps the dimmest diary ever to have been professionally published" and "one long, formulaic press release in praise of Gordon Brown."<ref name="ES Review">David Sexton (10 March 2011), , ''London Evening Standard''. Retrieved 18 June 2013.</ref> ''The Telegraph'' concludes it is a "strange book" and "plea for redemption" though the reviewer decides that Brown's description of the international charity circuit is "fun at last".<ref name="Torygraph Review">Tanya Gold (5 March 2011), , ''The Telegraph''. Retrieved 18 June 2013.</ref> The '']'' describes the book as a "disturbingly giddy, schoolgirlish, exclamation mark-littered diary form" and "nothing in the slightest bit revelatory about it", though with "enough gossipy details to satisfy star-hungry readers."<ref name="Irish Indy Review">, ''Irish Independent'', 5 March 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2013.</ref>


Brown, with ], was also co-chair of the leadership group on maternal and newborn mortality, launched in September 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-brown/a-changing-tide-of-opinio_b_299033.html |title=The World Post: A Changing Tide of Opinion for Girls and Women |website=] |date=24 September 2009 |access-date=5 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811150227/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-brown/a-changing-tide-of-opinio_b_299033.html |archive-date=11 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> ], then Prime Minister of Norway, said "We welcome and support the establishment of this important group. Every minute a mother dies in pregnancy or childbirth... women need a strong voice that will bring attention to their plight and push for the support they need."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.norad.no/en/thematic-areas/global-health/news/new-leadership-group-will-spearhead-drive-against-maternal-mortality |title=Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad): New leadership group will spearhead drive against maternal mortality |date=13 March 2009 |access-date=5 August 2014 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811010542/http://www.norad.no/en/thematic-areas/global-health/news/new-leadership-group-will-spearhead-drive-against-maternal-mortality |archive-date=11 August 2014 }}</ref>
In Brown's defence, the '']'' review decides that the "thoughtfulness and courtesy" is "genuine Sarah Brown", though "so airbrushed as to leave the diary feeling a little empty."<ref name="Statesman Review">Alice Miles (17 March 2011), , ''New Statesman''. Retrieved 18 June 2013.</ref>


Brown chaired the launch of the "new consensus for maternal, newborn and child health" at a 2009 high level event at the United Nations. At the meeting 10 countries, including ], ] and ], declared that they would be dropping medical charges ("]") to pregnant women around the time of birth. The consensus also set out key action steps that research showed could save the lives of more than 10 million women and children by 2015, and that were endorsed by the G8 at their July meeting of that year.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Behind the Black Door |last=Brown |first=Sarah |publisher=Ebury Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780091940584 |pages=rear cover}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.who.int/pmnch/media/events/2009/20090923_mnchconsensusstory/en/index1.html |title=Investing in Our Common Future: Healthy Women, Healthy Children, Quotes and Commitments |date=23 September 2009 |access-date=7 August 2015 |website=WHO |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701165717/http://www.who.int/pmnch/media/events/2009/20090923_mnchconsensusstory/en/index1.html |archive-date=1 July 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>
==Charitable work==
Brown founded her own charity, PiggyBank-Kids, in 2002, which raises money for the Jennifer Brown Research Trust and supports a range of projects to help disadvantaged children.<ref name="Lady in waiting" /><ref name="Mail hair smell">{{cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1266772/Does-hair-smell-paint-An-intimate-portrait-Sarah-Brown-really-happens-Downing-Streets-closed-doors.html|title=Does my hair smell of paint? An intimate portrait of Sarah Brown and what really happens behind Downing Street's closed doors|publisher=]|author=Lisa Aziz|date=17 April 2010 |accessdate=7 June 2013|location=}}</ref> The charity was renamed and is now called Theirworld.<ref>http://www.theirworld.org/history/</ref>
Brown is the patron of ] charity ] (from 2004, ongoing in 2013) and of ]s (since 2007, ongoing in 2013).<ref> "Sarah Brown", accessed 28 March 2013</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1520&id=1669142006| title =Why I want you to get behind Maggie's| work=]|date=11 November 2006| author=Sarah Brown }}</ref>


=== #UpForSchool petition ===
Brown is also a close friend of writer ] (who donated £1 million to the Labour Party in 2008),<ref>{{cite news|title=Harry Potter author JK Rowling gives £1 million to Labour|author=Ben Leach|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/3021309/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-gives-1-million-to-Labour.html|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|date=20 September 2008|accessdate=23 September 2008|location=London}}</ref> and the two co-authored a children's book for the ] charity organisation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/may/13/labourleadership.labour1|title=Gordon's women|publisher=The Guardian|date=13 May 2007|accessdate=23 September 2008|location=London}}</ref> She is a former patron of ].<ref name="Mail hair smell" />
In 2014, Brown helped launch A World at School's #UpForSchool petition – a global campaign started by A World at School's Global Youth Ambassadors – at a youth rally in New York City, alongside ], ] founder ], #BringBackOurGirls campaigner Hadiza Bela Usman, ] anchor ], UN Special Envoy for Global Education ], and messages of support from UN Secretary-General ] and actor ].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-brown/rising-upforschool_b_5858928.html |title=Rising #UpForSchool |date=21 September 2014 |access-date=9 February 2014 |website=Huffington Post |last=Brown |first=Sarah |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922024949/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-brown/rising-upforschool_b_5858928.html |archive-date=22 September 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/news/a29818/58-million-children-are-out-of-school/ |title=58 million children are out of school – let's do something about it |date=22 September 2014 |access-date=9 February 2014 |website=Cosmopolitan |last=Cowood |first=Fiona |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112175019/http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/news/a29818/58-million-children-are-out-of-school/ |archive-date=12 November 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The petition aims to hold world leaders to account for the promise of universal primary education made in the ] (MDG2).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.housebeautiful.co.uk/expert-advice/news/the-sarah-brown-interview/ |title=Sarah Brown's Mothers' Day Treat |date=3 February 2015 |access-date=9 February 2015 |website=House Beautiful |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209224326/http://www.housebeautiful.co.uk/expert-advice/news/the-sarah-brown-interview/ |archive-date=9 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>


The petition mobilised support and campaigning from a wide variety of organisations and individuals. 2015 ] winner ] headlined the London launch event in November 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/nobel-prize-winner-kailash-satyarthi-at-upforschool-london-rally-1323 |title=Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi headlines the #UpForSchool youth rally in London |date=18 November 2014 |access-date=9 February 2014 |website=A World at School |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209224754/http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/nobel-prize-winner-kailash-satyarthi-at-upforschool-london-rally-1323 |archive-date=9 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Other notable supporters and participants include his fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, ], Justin Bieber,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Digital Campaign of the Week: #UpforSchool |url=http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/digital-campaign-week-upforschool/communications/article/1358410 |website=www.thirdsector.co.uk |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124134442/http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/digital-campaign-week-upforschool/communications/article/1358410 |archive-date=24 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Archbishop ],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Desmond Tutu helps #UpForSchool Petition reach six million signatures {{!}} A World At School|url = http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/desmond-tutu-helps-upforschool-petition-hit-6m-signatures-2015|website = www.aworldatschool.org|access-date = 24 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151009102055/http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/desmond-tutu-helps-upforschool-petition-hit-6m-signatures-2015|archive-date = 9 October 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref> ],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Downton's Lady Edith helps Syria's war-ravaged refugee children |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/downtons-lady-edith-helps-syrias-5853099 |website=mirror |date=9 June 2015 |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118223927/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/downtons-lady-edith-helps-syrias-5853099 |archive-date=18 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='Downton Abbey' star Laura Carmichael visits with children in Syrian refugee camps |url=http://us.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/1201506105297/downtown-abbey-star-laura-carmichael-visits-children-in-syrian-refugee-camps/ |website=us.hellomagazine.com |access-date=24 November 2015 |first=HELLO! |last=US |date=10 June 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125013838/http://us.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/1201506105297/downtown-abbey-star-laura-carmichael-visits-children-in-syrian-refugee-camps/ |archive-date=25 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, ],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/drc-youth-stand-upforschool-at-petition-launch-1436 |title=Young people in DRC stand #UpForSchool at petition launch |date=18 December 2014 |access-date=9 February 2014 |website=A World at School |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204021407/http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/drc-youth-stand-upforschool-at-petition-launch-1436 |archive-date=4 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Education International<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasuwt.org.uk/Whatsnew/NASUWTNews/Nationalnewsitems/NASUWT_013260 |title=Campaign to Stand Up For School |access-date=9 February 2014 |website=NASUWT |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209233541/http://www.nasuwt.org.uk/Whatsnew/NASUWTNews/Nationalnewsitems/NASUWT_013260 |archive-date=9 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/news_details/3335 |title=Universal children's day: a long way ahead |date=20 November 2014 |access-date=9 February 2014 |website=Education International |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211065255/http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/news_details/3335 |archive-date=11 December 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> (the world teachers' union), ], ], ], ], ].org, ] (who created a special Angry Birds level in support of the petition),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Angry Birds get political with #UpForSchool education petition |url=http://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/61488/angry-birds-up-for-school-political-education-rovio/ |website=pocketgamer.biz |date=29 June 2015 |access-date=23 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103102103/http://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/61488/angry-birds-up-for-school-political-education-rovio/ |archive-date=3 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi in Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Education Youth Ambassadors mobilize people on Upforschool and end child marriages |url=http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=271108 |website=pakobserver.net |access-date=23 November 2015 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124141933/http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=271108 |archive-date=24 November 2015 }}</ref>
She is a member of the High Level Panel for Global Education.<ref>Official Website, accessed 28 March 2013</ref>


As of September 2015 the petition had gathered over 10&nbsp;million signatories worldwide, at which point it was presented at a joint Theirworld and ] event at the ] – a venue associated with the Suffragettes – during the UN General Assembly 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Beginning for Children |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sarah-brown/upforschool-children-education_b_8337904.html |website=The Huffington Post UK |date=20 October 2015 |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124183139/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sarah-brown/upforschool-children-education_b_8337904.html |archive-date=24 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Victory for the world's children |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/victory-for-the-worlds-children/article7751230.ece |newspaper=The Hindu |date=12 October 2015|access-date = 24 November 2015 |issn=0971-751X |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151114200144/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/victory-for-the-worlds-children/article7751230.ece |archive-date=14 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=10 million signatures handed in to the UN |url=http://www.the-partners.com/blog/2015/9/30/10-million-signatures |website=The Partners |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124153611/http://www.the-partners.com/blog/2015/9/30/10-million-signatures |archive-date=24 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=#UpForSchool Town Hall blog: 10 million people stand up for education {{!}} A World At School|url = http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/UpForSchool-Town-Hall-blog-10-million-people-stand-up-for-education-2331|website = www.aworldatschool.org|access-date = 24 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151110134005/http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/UpForSchool-Town-Hall-blog-10-million-people-stand-up-for-education-2331|archive-date = 10 November 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref> The singer and education campaigner ] also participated and presented the #UpForSchool petition signatures to the UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, during the same General Assembly.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shakira presents the UN Special Envoy for Education Gordon Brown,... |url=http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/shakira-presents-the-un-special-envoy-for-education-gordon-news-photo/490029898 |website=Getty Images |date=25 September 2015 |access-date=24 November 2015 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124163503/http://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/shakira-presents-the-un-special-envoy-for-education-gordon-news-photo/490029898 |archive-date=24 November 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Shakira delivers #UpForSchool's 10 million signatures to UN education envoy {{!}} A World At School|url = http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/Shakira-delivers-10-million-UpForSchool-signatures-to-UN-2313|website = www.aworldatschool.org|access-date = 24 November 2015|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151121235523/http://www.aworldatschool.org/news/entry/Shakira-delivers-10-million-UpForSchool-signatures-to-UN-2313|archive-date = 21 November 2015|df = dmy-all}}</ref>
== The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and Maternal Mortality Campaign ==
In 2009, Brown gave the keynote speech at the ]'s 62nd World Health Assembley, alongside United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://who.int/pmnch/media/events/2009/20090518_wha/en/|title = Leaders urge World Health Assembly to invest in maternal health and health systems|date = 19 May 2009|accessdate = 5 August 2014|website = World Health Oganisation|publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref>, asking "Where is the M in MCH?’ " in an echo of ]'s landmark ''] ''article of 1985 - and highlighting that the numbers of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth were still the same 14 years later.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2009/wha62/sarah_brown_speech_20090519/en/|title = Keynote address to 62nd World Health Assembly, Sarah Brown, Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood|date = 19 May 2009|accessdate = 5 August 2014|website = |publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref>


===Other activities===
Brown, with ], was co-chair of the Leadership Group on Maternal and Newborn Mortality, launched in September 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-brown/a-changing-tide-of-opinio_b_299033.html|title = The World Post: A Changing Tide of Opinion for Girls and Women|date = 24 September 2009|accessdate = 5 August 2014|website = |publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref> ], then Prime Minister of Norway, said "We welcome and support the establishment of this important group. Every minute a mother dies in pregnancy or childbirth... women need a strong voice that will bring attention to their plight and push for the support they need."<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.norad.no/en/thematic-areas/global-health/news/new-leadership-group-will-spearhead-drive-against-maternal-mortality|title = Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad): New leadership group will spearhead drive against maternal mortality|date = 13 March 2009|accessdate = 5 August 2014|website = |publisher = |last = |first = }}</ref>
Throughout her campaigning, Brown has used social media to promote the causes of education and maternal health, and has been named on various Twitter and social media 'most influential' lists, including "The eight most influential women tweeters" by '']'' magazine,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://fortune.com/2014/02/06/the-eight-most-powerful-women-tweeters-fortunes-most-powerful-women-global-edition/ |title=Forbes: The eight most powerful woman tweeters |date=6 February 2014 |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808055841/http://fortune.com/2014/02/06/the-eight-most-powerful-women-tweeters-fortunes-most-powerful-women-global-edition/ |archive-date=8 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and in 2014, Brown was reported to be the second "most powerful Briton" on Twitter by '']''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-twitter-100-no-1-to-10-7466795.html |title=The Independent: The Twitter 100: No 1 to 10 |website=] |date=1 March 2012 |access-date=7 March 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223063954/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-twitter-100-no-1-to-10-7466795.html |archive-date=23 February 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Brown is the patron of ] charity ] (from 2004, ongoing in 2013), of the SHINE Education Trust, and Honorary Patron of ]s (since 2007, ongoing in 2024).<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary Patrons |url=https://www.maggies.org/about-us/how-we-are-run/people/honorary-patrons/ |website=www.maggies.org |access-date=14 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1520&id=1669142006 |title=Why I want you to get behind Maggie's |work=] |date=11 November 2006 |author=Sarah Brown}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.shinetrust.org.uk/site/pages/189_trusteespatronsandstaff.php |title=SHINE Education Trust |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808054854/http://www.shinetrust.org.uk/site/pages/189_trusteespatronsandstaff.php |archive-date=8 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Brown is also patron of the ] First Women Awards, which since 2004 have celebrated "pioneering women; successful role models who have broken new ground and opened up opportunities for other women".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/798-meet_britains_most_pioneering_business_women |title=Meet Britain's most pioneering business women |date=21 April 2008 |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814100009/http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/798-meet_britains_most_pioneering_business_women |archive-date=14 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.caspianpublishing.co.uk/document/032585845ccebda71b55626d5c0274ce.pdf |title=The First Women Awards |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304235523/http://media.caspianpublishing.co.uk/document/032585845ccebda71b55626d5c0274ce.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hyderconsulting.com/en/services/propertyservices/Pages/displayarticle.aspx?pageid=94 |title=Stephanie Wray shortlisted for First Women Awards |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808063601/http://www.hyderconsulting.com/en/services/propertyservices/Pages/displayarticle.aspx?pageid=94 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Brown is also a friend of writer ],<ref>{{cite news |title=Harry Potter author JK Rowling gives £1&nbsp;million to Labour |author=Ben Leach |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/3021309/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-gives-1-million-to-Labour.html |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |date=20 September 2008 |access-date=23 September 2008 |location=London |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920115952/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/3021309/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-gives-1-million-to-Labour.html |archive-date=20 September 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and the two co-authored a children's book for the ] charity organisation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/may/13/labourleadership.labour1 |title=Gordon's women |work=The Guardian |date=13 May 2007 |access-date=23 September 2008 |location=London |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003131104/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/may/13/labourleadership.labour1 |archive-date=3 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Brown's efforts to change the lives of women and children has been recognised with the Vision and Impact Award from the Global Business Coalition for Health,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.gbchealth.org/news-article/1541/ |title=Global Business Coalition for Health, Education, Access and Technology Lead the Field for the 2011 GBC Business Action on Health Awards |date=29 May 2011 |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052346/http://archive.gbchealth.org/news-article/1541/ |archive-date=8 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> the ] Global Leadership Award,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rahimkanani/2011/12/07/sarah-brown-and-the-fight-for-global-maternal-and-newborn-health/ |title=Forbes – Sarah Brown and the Fight for Global Maternal and Newborn Health |date=12 July 2011 |access-date=6 August 2014 |website=Forbes |last=Rahim |first=Kanani |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808054619/http://www.forbes.com/sites/rahimkanani/2011/12/07/sarah-brown-and-the-fight-for-global-maternal-and-newborn-health/ |archive-date=8 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> an honorary fellowship from ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://storify.com/RCObsGyn/day-3-rcog-at-xx-figo-world-congress |title=RCOG at XX FIGO World Congress |date=10 October 2012 |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015115454/https://storify.com/RCObsGyn/day-3-rcog-at-xx-figo-world-congress |archive-date=15 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and a recognition award from the ], which she was awarded alongside ] executive director ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.who.int/pmnch/media/news/2012/20121008_figo_pmnch_session/en/ |title=International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Congress opens in Rome |date=12 October 2012 |access-date=6 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808052454/http://www.who.int/pmnch/media/news/2012/20121008_figo_pmnch_session/en/ |archive-date=8 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In February 2015, it was announced that Sarah Brown would be competing in a second ] special edition of '']'' television show,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/tv-radio/sarah-brown-joins-host-stars-5095731 |title=Sarah Brown joins host of stars for The Great British Comic Relief Bake Off to keep her sons sweet |date=3 February 2015 |access-date=9 February 2015 |website=Daily Record |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220022817/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/tv-radio/sarah-brown-joins-host-stars-5095731 |archive-date=20 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31103953 |title=Zoella and Dame Edna join Celebrity Bake Off |date=3 February 2015 |access-date=9 February 2015 |website=BBC |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207094301/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31103953 |archive-date=7 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11389128/Celebrity-Great-British-Bake-Off-who-will-rise-to-the-challenge.html |title=Comic Relief Great British Bake Off: who will win? |date=4 February 2015 |access-date=9 February 2015 |website=The Daily Telegraph |last=John |first=Waite |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208050728/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11389128/Celebrity-Great-British-Bake-Off-who-will-rise-to-the-challenge.html |archive-date=8 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> with ''The Guardian'' describing the line up as a "cause for celebration".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/feb/03/the-great-comic-relief-bake-off-2015-celebrities-dame-edna-everage-jennifer-saunders-victoria-wood-alexa-chung-zoella |title=The 2015 Great Comic Relief Bake Off celebrity lineup is cause for celebration |date=3 February 2015 |access-date=9 February 2015 |website=The Guardian |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220022900/http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/feb/03/the-great-comic-relief-bake-off-2015-celebrities-dame-edna-everage-jennifer-saunders-victoria-wood-alexa-chung-zoella |archive-date=20 February 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

== Marriage to Gordon Brown ==
Sarah's relationship with ] started after they shared a flight from London to Scotland for the ] conference in 1994.<ref name="world of Mrs Brown">{{cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,,1962892,00.html |title=Inside the world of Mrs Brown |work=] |date=3 December 2006 |publisher=The Guardian |author=Gaby Hinsliff
|location=London |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128033938/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,,1962892,00.html |archive-date=28 November 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The relationship was kept secret until June 1997, when the '']'' published a picture of them together at a restaurant in London.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970629/ai_n14102173 |title=Snapper grabs photo of Chancellor with woman! |work=] |date=29 June 1997 |publisher=findarticles.com |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702205228/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970629/ai_n14102173 |archive-date=2 July 2007 }}</ref> They were married on 3 August 2000 in Gordon Brown's hometown of ], Fife.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/864413.stm |title=Gordon and Sarah wed at home |work=] |date=3 August 2000 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070319174846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/864413.stm |archive-date=19 March 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

On 28 December 2001, she gave birth prematurely to a baby daughter, Jennifer Jane, who died at ten days old.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1732415.stm |title=Chancellor becomes a father |work=BBC News |date=28 December 2001 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629215326/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1732415.stm |archive-date=29 June 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1747863.stm |title=Browns' baby dies in hospital |work=BBC News |date=7 January 2002 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904144858/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1747863.stm |archive-date=4 September 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Gordon spoke of Sarah's bravery after their daughter's death.<ref>{{cite news |author=Nicholas Watt |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/feb/12/gordon-brown-interview-baby-jennifer |title=Gordon Brown opens his heart on his baby's death, Sarah's bravery, and Blair &#124; Politics |work=The Guardian |date=12 February 2010 |access-date=28 April 2010 |location=London |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323215527/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/feb/12/gordon-brown-interview-baby-jennifer |archive-date=23 March 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

On 17 October 2003, she gave birth to their second child and first son, John.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3201048.stm |title=Browns celebrate baby boy |work=BBC News |date=17 October 2003 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114234319/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3201048.stm |archive-date=14 January 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Another son, James Fraser, arrived on 17 July 2006<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5191650.stm |title=Brown names new baby James Fraser |work=BBC News |date=18 July 2006}}</ref> and was diagnosed with ] that November.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6157891.stm |title=Brown's son has cystic fibrosis |work=BBC News |date=26 November 2006 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070127002610/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6157891.stm |archive-date=27 January 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

]

===Spouse of the Prime Minister===

] became Prime Minister on 27 June 2007, following the resignation of ]. As wife of the Prime Minister, Sarah Brown was generally viewed favourably.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7628151.stm |title=PM's wife is a hit on the fringe |author=Emma Griffiths |work=BBC News |date=21 September 2008 |access-date=23 September 2008 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922133057/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7628151.stm |archive-date=22 September 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/opinion/2008/07/30/do3005.xml |title=What Sarah Brown could learn from Cherie Blair |work=] |author=Liz Hunt |date=30 July 2008 |access-date=23 September 2008 |location=London}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6240852.stm |title=Sarah Brown: The new 'first lady' |work=BBC News |date=28 June 2007 |access-date=23 September 2008 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203074802/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6240852.stm |archive-date=3 February 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> '']'' noted her public image, describing her as "a truly modern public figure: talkative, empathetic, informal but infinitely connected, ubiquitous as any celebrity, an avid exploiter of new digital media, an expert assembler of charitable and political coalitions",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/sep/25/women-gordon-brown |title=The Guardian |website=] |date=25 September 2009 |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024072343/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/sep/25/women-gordon-brown |archive-date=24 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> noting "her positive profile could be the best thing ] has got going for it with the election looming."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/gallery/2009/sep/24/sarah-brown-popular-twitter?picture=353403929 |title=The Reinvention of Sarah Brown |work=The Guardian |date=24 September 2009 |access-date=29 September 2009 |location=London |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214232143/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/gallery/2009/sep/24/sarah-brown-popular-twitter?picture=353403929 |archive-date=14 December 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> '']'' noted that " It is hard to find people with a bad word to say about Mrs Brown."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5284216/Sarah-Brown-campaigning-for-safe-motherhood.html |title=The Telegraph |date=6 May 2009 |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812093645/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5284216/Sarah-Brown-campaigning-for-safe-motherhood.html |archive-date=12 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Sarah introduced Gordon at the 2008 and 2009 ]s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/6243343/Sarah-Brown-hails-hero-Gordon-at-Labour-Party-conference.html |title=Sarah Brown hails 'hero' Gordon at Labour Party conference |date=29 September 2009 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=18 October 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024005625/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown/6243343/Sarah-Brown-hails-hero-Gordon-at-Labour-Party-conference.html |archive-date=24 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It was her idea to do so at the 2008 conference, after having seen the similar role ] had performed for her husband, the United States President ].<ref name="Seldon">{{cite book |last1=Seldon |first1=Anthony |last2=Lodge |first2=Guy |title=Brown at 10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuqtAwAAQBAJ&q=sarah |year=2011 |publisher=Biteback Publishing |isbn=9781849540896 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204165629/https://books.google.com/books?id=KuqtAwAAQBAJ&dq=gordon+brown+sarah&q=sarah#v=snippet&q=sarah&f=false |archive-date=4 February 2018 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

According to ] and Guy Lodge, the authors of a book on Gordon's tenure as Prime Minister, Sarah brought stability to both Gordon and his office, and was "a forceful voice in encouraging him to stay on until the very end".<ref name="Seldon"/> That end came following the ], which resulted in the first hung parliament since 1974. The Conservative Party led by ] won the most seats, and on 11 May 2010 formed a government in ] after her husband's attempts to keep Labour in power failed.

===Memoir===
] (2008)]]
Brown published a memoir of her role as the Prime Minister's spouse, entitled ''Behind the Black Door'', through Ebury Press in 2011.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |title=Behind the Black Door |url=https://archive.org/details/behindblackdoor0000brow |url-access=registration |author=Sarah Brown |publisher=Ebury Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780091940577}}</ref>

The book received a mixed reception from reviewers. Written in a diary style, the ''New Statesman'' referred to it as a "domestic take on politics".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2011/03/sarah-brown-public-family |title=Behind the Black Door |date=17 March 2011 |work=New Statesman |access-date=17 October 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021185925/http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2011/03/sarah-brown-public-family |archive-date=21 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> While '']'' called it "fascinating and endearing",<ref name=":2" /> the '']'' described it as "perhaps the dimmest diary ever to have been professionally published" and "one long, formulaic press release in praise of ]."<ref name="ES Review">David Sexton (10 March 2011), , ''London Evening Standard''. Retrieved 18 June 2013.</ref>

''The Telegraph'' concludes it is a "strange book" and "plea for redemption" though the reviewer decides that Brown's description of the international charity circuit is "fun at last",<ref name="Torygraph Review">Tanya Gold (5 March 2011), {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006142711/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8362135/Behind-the-Black-Door-by-Sarah-Brown-review.html |date=6 October 2013 }}, ''The Telegraph''. Retrieved 18 June 2013.</ref> and that Brown "wins sympathy that boastfulness would have forfeited."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherhowse/8339431/Sarah-Brown-never-has-the-last-laugh....html |title=The Telegraph |date=21 February 2011 |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812093700/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherhowse/8339431/Sarah-Brown-never-has-the-last-laugh....html |archive-date=12 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The '']'' describes the book as a "disturbingly giddy, schoolgirlish, exclamation mark-littered diary form" and "nothing in the slightest bit revelatory about it... tiptoeingly discreet", but that "Brown comes across in these pages as a decent and likeable" with "enough gossipy details to satisfy star-hungry readers",<ref name="Irish Indy Review">, ''Irish Independent'', 5 March 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2013.</ref> with Caitlin Moran declaring: "School run, conference call, Obama for tea – Sarah Brown smiled, and tweeted, through it all. I love this woman."<ref name=":1" />

The ''New Statesman'' observed that Brown successfully describes "the awkwardness of the lifestyle" and "the vagueness of the position", and that while "political events and what must have been some fairly traumatic personal moments" seem "airbrushed", leaving "the diary feeling a little empty", the book demonstrates how "collision of the political with the personal... jars and is sometimes funny", concluding it is full of "thoughtfulness and... courtesy", "precisely the sort of thing that is genuine Sarah Brown".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2011/03/sarah-brown-public-family |title=New Statesman, Behind the Black Door, Alice Miles |date=17 March 2011 |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021185925/http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2011/03/sarah-brown-public-family |archive-date=21 October 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Commenting on some of the reaction to the book, ] noted in ''The Guardian'' that "The amount of crap we expect prime ministers' wives to endure, unpaid, for having the temerity to be married to the country's most successful politician is a national disgrace",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/27/david-mitchell-sarah-brown-barclays |title=The Guardian, "So Sarah Brown didn't make Gordon a boiled egg and soldiers. Get over it" |website=] |date=27 February 2011 |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810174438/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/27/david-mitchell-sarah-brown-barclays |archive-date=10 August 2014 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and ] magazine concluded that "whatever reviewers say, she is a natural heroine to the Mumsnet demographic".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/sarah-brown/behind-the-black-door-9780091940584.aspx |title=Random House |access-date=7 August 2014 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701185648/http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/sarah-brown/behind-the-black-door-9780091940584.aspx |archive-date=1 July 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
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{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->
| NAME = Brown, Sarah
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Sarah Macaulay
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Wife of Gordon Brown
| DATE OF BIRTH = 31 October 1963
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Beaconsfield, Bucks, England, United Kingdom
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Sarah}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Sarah}}
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Latest revision as of 12:04, 10 December 2024

British activist and campaigner and former spouse of the prime minister

Sarah Brown
Brown in 2009
BornSarah Jane Macaulay
(1963-10-31) 31 October 1963 (age 61)
Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
Known for
Spouse Gordon Brown ​(m. 2000)
Children3
Websitegordonandsarahbrown.com

Sarah Jane Brown (née Macaulay; born 31 October 1963), usually known as Sarah Brown, is an English campaigner for global health and education, founder and president of the children's charity Theirworld, the executive chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education and the co-founder of A World at School.

She was a founding partner of Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications, a public relations company. She is married to Gordon Brown, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007 and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010.

Early life and career

Sarah Jane Macaulay was born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire on 31 October 1963. Her mother Pauline was a teacher and her father Iain worked for publisher Longman. Macaulay spent her infancy in Fife, before her family moved to Tanzania—where her mother was to operate a school—when she was two years old. When she was eight, her parents separated and later, each remarried. Her mother, stepfather, she, and her two younger brothers, Sean and Bruce, resettled in North London.

There, she was educated at Acland Burghley Secondary School and Camden School for Girls, and later took a psychology degree at the University of Bristol.

Upon leaving university, she worked at the brand consultancy Wolff Olins. When she was thirty, she founded the public relations firm Hobsbawm Macaulay, in partnership with an old school friend, Julia Hobsbawm. Their clients included the New Statesman (owned by Geoffrey Robinson), The Labour Party and trade unions. In 2000, she married Gordon Brown, and in October 2001 left Hobsbawm Macaulay after finding out she was pregnant with her first child.

Charitable work: public health and education advocacy

Focus on maternal, newborn and child health and education

In 2002, Brown founded the charity Theirworld – originally known as PiggyBankKids – which began as a research fund to tackle complications in pregnancy, and in 2004 the charity founded the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory at the University of Edinburgh. The laboratory's work is notable for its unified obstetric and neonatal approach to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, with a particular focus on preterm births.

On 16 November 2015, Brown launched the Theirworld Birth Cohort project, a £1.5million study aimed at improving the health of women and their children who are born prematurely, at Edinburgh University as part of the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory. The project will track the development of 400 babies, most of whom are born before 32 weeks, following them through to adulthood, tracking educational attainment to help identify the causes and consequences of brain injury at birth and help speed the development of new treatments that could improve the health of prematurely born babies.

Theirworld, which was launched in early 2013 through the A World at School digital movement, also has a strong focus on global education. As well as the #UpForSchool petition, it also organised the first ever "youth takeover" of the United Nations in July 2013, and has campaigned on the provision of education to children effected by conflict and disaster, particularly including refugees of the Syria crisis in Lebanon.

Brown is also the founding chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education, the objective of which is to work with business leaders and CEOs to support and galvanise international action to achieve quality education for all the world's children; she is also a member of the High Level Panel for Global Education, initiated by the coalition.

In 2008 Brown became global patron of The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, the grassroots led maternal health advocacy movement, and co-founded the Maternal Mortality Campaign. Her leadership on the issue has been recognised with her appointment as a member of the External Advisory Group of the world-leading Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and as an adjunct professor at the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London.

In 2009, Brown gave the keynote speech at the World Health Organization's 62nd World Health Assembly, alongside United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In her speech she asked "where is the M in MCH?' " in an echo of Allan Rosenfield's landmark Lancet article of 1985, highlighting that the numbers of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth were still the same approximately 20 years later.

Brown, with Bience Gawanas, was also co-chair of the leadership group on maternal and newborn mortality, launched in September 2009. Jens Stoltenberg, then Prime Minister of Norway, said "We welcome and support the establishment of this important group. Every minute a mother dies in pregnancy or childbirth... women need a strong voice that will bring attention to their plight and push for the support they need."

Brown chaired the launch of the "new consensus for maternal, newborn and child health" at a 2009 high level event at the United Nations. At the meeting 10 countries, including Sierra Leone, Ghana and Liberia, declared that they would be dropping medical charges ("user fees") to pregnant women around the time of birth. The consensus also set out key action steps that research showed could save the lives of more than 10 million women and children by 2015, and that were endorsed by the G8 at their July meeting of that year.

#UpForSchool petition

In 2014, Brown helped launch A World at School's #UpForSchool petition – a global campaign started by A World at School's Global Youth Ambassadors – at a youth rally in New York City, alongside Graça Machel, Avaaz founder Ricken Patel, #BringBackOurGirls campaigner Hadiza Bela Usman, CNN anchor Isha Sesay, UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, and messages of support from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and actor Rainn Wilson. The petition aims to hold world leaders to account for the promise of universal primary education made in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG2).

The petition mobilised support and campaigning from a wide variety of organisations and individuals. 2015 Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi headlined the London launch event in November 2015. Other notable supporters and participants include his fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, Justin Bieber, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Laura Carmichael, the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Augustin Matata Ponyo, Education International (the world teachers' union), BRAC, World Vision, Walk Free, Muslim Aid, Avaaz.org, Rovio (who created a special Angry Birds level in support of the petition), and Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi in Pakistan.

As of September 2015 the petition had gathered over 10 million signatories worldwide, at which point it was presented at a joint Theirworld and UNICEF event at the New York Town Hall – a venue associated with the Suffragettes – during the UN General Assembly 2015. The singer and education campaigner Shakira also participated and presented the #UpForSchool petition signatures to the UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, during the same General Assembly.

Other activities

Throughout her campaigning, Brown has used social media to promote the causes of education and maternal health, and has been named on various Twitter and social media 'most influential' lists, including "The eight most influential women tweeters" by Forbes magazine, and in 2014, Brown was reported to be the second "most powerful Briton" on Twitter by The Independent.

Brown is the patron of domestic violence charity Women's Aid (from 2004, ongoing in 2013), of the SHINE Education Trust, and Honorary Patron of Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres (since 2007, ongoing in 2024).

Brown is also patron of the CBI First Women Awards, which since 2004 have celebrated "pioneering women; successful role models who have broken new ground and opened up opportunities for other women".

Brown is also a friend of writer J.K. Rowling, and the two co-authored a children's book for the One Parent Families charity organisation.

Brown's efforts to change the lives of women and children has been recognised with the Vision and Impact Award from the Global Business Coalition for Health, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Global Leadership Award, an honorary fellowship from Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and a recognition award from the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, which she was awarded alongside UN Women executive director Michelle Bachelet.

In February 2015, it was announced that Sarah Brown would be competing in a second Comic Relief special edition of The Great British Bake Off television show, with The Guardian describing the line up as a "cause for celebration".

Marriage to Gordon Brown

Sarah's relationship with Gordon Brown started after they shared a flight from London to Scotland for the Scottish Labour Party conference in 1994. The relationship was kept secret until June 1997, when the News of the World published a picture of them together at a restaurant in London. They were married on 3 August 2000 in Gordon Brown's hometown of North Queensferry, Fife.

On 28 December 2001, she gave birth prematurely to a baby daughter, Jennifer Jane, who died at ten days old. Gordon spoke of Sarah's bravery after their daughter's death.

On 17 October 2003, she gave birth to their second child and first son, John. Another son, James Fraser, arrived on 17 July 2006 and was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis that November.

Brown with her husband at the Diversity Reception, Labour conference, 2009

Spouse of the Prime Minister

Gordon Brown became Prime Minister on 27 June 2007, following the resignation of Tony Blair. As wife of the Prime Minister, Sarah Brown was generally viewed favourably. The Guardian noted her public image, describing her as "a truly modern public figure: talkative, empathetic, informal but infinitely connected, ubiquitous as any celebrity, an avid exploiter of new digital media, an expert assembler of charitable and political coalitions", noting "her positive profile could be the best thing Labour has got going for it with the election looming." The Telegraph noted that " It is hard to find people with a bad word to say about Mrs Brown."

Sarah introduced Gordon at the 2008 and 2009 Labour Party Conferences. It was her idea to do so at the 2008 conference, after having seen the similar role Michelle Obama had performed for her husband, the United States President Barack Obama.

According to Anthony Seldon and Guy Lodge, the authors of a book on Gordon's tenure as Prime Minister, Sarah brought stability to both Gordon and his office, and was "a forceful voice in encouraging him to stay on until the very end". That end came following the 2010 General Election, which resulted in the first hung parliament since 1974. The Conservative Party led by David Cameron won the most seats, and on 11 May 2010 formed a government in coalition with the Liberal Democrats after her husband's attempts to keep Labour in power failed.

Memoir

Brown with other leader spouses at the 34th G8 summit (2008)

Brown published a memoir of her role as the Prime Minister's spouse, entitled Behind the Black Door, through Ebury Press in 2011.

The book received a mixed reception from reviewers. Written in a diary style, the New Statesman referred to it as a "domestic take on politics". While Woman's Own called it "fascinating and endearing", the London Evening Standard described it as "perhaps the dimmest diary ever to have been professionally published" and "one long, formulaic press release in praise of Gordon Brown."

The Telegraph concludes it is a "strange book" and "plea for redemption" though the reviewer decides that Brown's description of the international charity circuit is "fun at last", and that Brown "wins sympathy that boastfulness would have forfeited."

The Irish Independent describes the book as a "disturbingly giddy, schoolgirlish, exclamation mark-littered diary form" and "nothing in the slightest bit revelatory about it... tiptoeingly discreet", but that "Brown comes across in these pages as a decent and likeable" with "enough gossipy details to satisfy star-hungry readers", with Caitlin Moran declaring: "School run, conference call, Obama for tea – Sarah Brown smiled, and tweeted, through it all. I love this woman."

The New Statesman observed that Brown successfully describes "the awkwardness of the lifestyle" and "the vagueness of the position", and that while "political events and what must have been some fairly traumatic personal moments" seem "airbrushed", leaving "the diary feeling a little empty", the book demonstrates how "collision of the political with the personal... jars and is sometimes funny", concluding it is full of "thoughtfulness and... courtesy", "precisely the sort of thing that is genuine Sarah Brown".

Commenting on some of the reaction to the book, David Mitchell noted in The Guardian that "The amount of crap we expect prime ministers' wives to endure, unpaid, for having the temerity to be married to the country's most successful politician is a national disgrace", and The Lady magazine concluded that "whatever reviewers say, she is a natural heroine to the Mumsnet demographic".

References

  1. "Sarah Brown". gordonandsarahbrown.com. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014.
  2. Allison, Rebecca (3 August 2000). "How Macaulay triumphed when so many others failed". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  3. Andy Beckett (25 September 2009). "Can Sarah Brown rescue Labour?". London: Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  4. ^ "Hello! profile". Hellomagazine.com. 7 January 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  5. "Independent profile". London: Independent.co.uk. 3 June 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  6. ^ Seldon, Anthony; Lodge, Guy (2011). Brown at 10. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 9781849540896. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018.
  7. ^ Hinsliff, Gary (3 December 2006). "Inside the world of Mrs Brown". The Observer. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  8. Max Davidson (6 September 2008). "Town vs gown: north London". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017.
  9. ^ Gaby Hinsliff "Lady in waiting", Archived 24 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Observer, 2 October 2005, Retrieved on 30 March 2008
  10. "Chancellor's wife to quit full-time work". BBC News. 18 October 2001. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017.
  11. "University of Edinburgh MRC Centre for Reproductive Health: The Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory". 19 April 2014. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  12. "Launch of the Edinburgh Birth Cohort Study | Upcoming Events |". www.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  13. "Premature babies care study launched by Sarah Brown – BBC News". BBC News. 16 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  14. "Sarah Brown launches £1.5m study into premature births". www.scotsman.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
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Preceded byCherie Blair Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
2007–2010
Succeeded bySamantha Cameron
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