TIMELINE: Brown's first 13 months as British PM
(Reuters) - In just over a year as British prime minister, Gordon Brown's popularity and that of the ruling Labour Party have plummeted.
Here is a chronology of his first 13 months in office:
June 24, 2007 - Brown, finance minister since Labour swept to power in 1997, vows that as prime minister he will renew the government and learn lessons from the war in Iraq.
June 27 - Brown takes over as prime minister from Tony Blair.
June 30 - Britain is put on "critical" alert status -- the highest level of terrorist threat warning -- after two car bombs are found in London and men crash a jeep into Glasgow airport terminal and set it on fire.
August 12 - A poll gives Labour its biggest lead over the opposition Conservative Party since before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Brown wins praise for his handling of car bomb attacks, Britain's worst floods in 60 years and swift action over an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in cattle.
September 14 - Mortgage lender Northern Rock says the central bank has stepped in to provide support because of the impact of the U.S. subprime market crisis, triggering the first run on a major British bank in more than a century.
October 7 - After mounting speculation, Brown rules out an early election. The Conservatives accuse him of vacillating and say his decision is a humiliating retreat resulting from polls showing his lead over them has evaporated.
December 8 - Brown boycotts EU-Africa summit in Portugal because of presence of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
February 18, 2008 - Brown faces political and public criticism of his handling of Northern Rock crisis, a day after deciding to take the bank into public ownership, the first UK nationalization since the 1970s.
April 22 - Rank and file Labour MPs threaten to revolt over the abolition, announced in Brown's last budget as finance minister but taking effect in April 2008, of the 10 pence rate of income tax, which affects many low-paid workers.
May 1 - Labour slumps to its worst local election defeat in 40 years. In London, Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone is beaten by Conservative Boris Johnson.
May 11 - Brown pledges to keep the United Kingdom intact in the face of demands for Scottish independence. Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander earlier caused consternation by calling for a referendum on independence, having previously said -- in line with Labour policy -- that a poll was unnecessary.
May 13 - Finance Minister Alistair Darling, trying to prevent a party revolt over the 10p income tax issue, borrows 2.7 billion pounds to give all 22 million basic rate taxpayers a tax cut.
May 22 - Labour loses first mid-term parliamentary election to Conservatives in 30 years in Crewe and Nantwich.
May 30 - Opinion poll shows Labour support is at its lowest level since surveys began in 1943.
June 11 - Brown narrowly wins a parliamentary vote on his controversial plan to extend the time terrorism suspects can be held from 28 days to 42. A Labour revolt reduces his lower house majority from 65 to nine -- the votes of Northern Ireland lawmakers.
July 24 - The pro-independence Scottish National Party beats Labour in a parliamentary election in Glasgow, overturning a huge Labour majority and dealing a stinging blow to Brown.
