WITHIN view of the soaring spire of St Bryce’s Kirk in Kirkcaldy, Fife, where his late father John Brown was once church minister, Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, fulfilled one of two lifetime ambitions last night to become MP for his home town.

And as it became clear during the evening that Labour was heading for an historic third term, albeit with a reduced majority, he also took a major step forward on another far more widely reported personal quest to become Labour Prime Minister.

A relaxed Mr Brown arrived at the count at Fife College, opposite St Bryce’s, with wife Sarah at 11.30pm. Their 18-month-old son John was presumeably sleeping soundly through the momentous evening.

Mr Brown briefly chatted to party workers, some of whom he knew from his school days at Kirkcaldy High, before retiring to a private room to await the result.

There was never any doubt that the new seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, with a notional Labour majority of more than 16,000, would be held by Mr Brown, after his old constituency of Dunfermline East vanished in boundary changes.

The new constituency, home to his beloved Raith Rovers football team, is an amalgamation of Dunfermline East, which Mr Brown represented for 22-years, and the neighbouring seat of Kirkcaldy, also solid Labour territory. It was held by Lewis Moonie, the former defence minister, who conveniently agreed to step down for this General Election.

Last night the only question remaining is will Mr Brown use the momentum of Labour’s election victory to shift up a gear and move onto an unstoppable path to the leadership job he has covetted for years.

Mr Brown’s authority within the Labour party has undoubtedly been enhanced by the "joint ticket" Blair-Brown election campaign which has confirmed his popularity with voters. In his own constituency the turn-out was a respectable 58%, up four points on previous elections.

But yesterday Mr Blair made it clear in an interview that he had no intention of stepping aside for the foreseeable future.

Last night Mr Brown, 54, good humouredly batted away questions about his future career prospects and would only say he was feeling "very well."

At 1.02am, the returning officer Douglas Sinclair, dispensed with formalities and confirmed the seat was Mr Brown’s with an increased majority of 18,216. Mr Brown, who won with 24,278 votes, kissed Sarah as the result was announced. He paid tribute to her and his son John who he called his "best campaigners." His nearest rival was Alan Thomas Bath, of the Scottish National Party, who took 6,062 votes.

In his acceptance speech Mr Brown said the vote for Labour would spur the party on to "renewed work." He said: "It is a summons to even greater commitment. We will listen and we will learn to serve our country and communities.

"If, as I believe will happen, Labour will be elected for an historic third term we will work to enhance economic prosperity and build a stronger and fairer Britain where every child has the best start in life and there is dignity and opportunity for everyone." He said the work would start from "this morning."

"This is the work that drives us on. This is the vision that gives enduring purpose to what we do. This is the task our party wants to continue."

He said it was an honour to represent the family of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and added that: "To represent in addition the town in which I grew up and went to school and where I have many friends, and within a stones throw of the church where my father was a minister through my formative years is a humbling experience."

Unsurprisingly for a man who is known to be something of a workaholic, Mr Brown showed no signs of fatigue despite a long day in the limelight which began with an address to the party faithful at the campaign office in Kirkcaldy at 10.30am. He then went to vote at Queensferry Community Centre at 11.30am with wife Sarah.

Although born in Glasgow, Mr Brown was brought up in Kirkcaldy from an early age. His father was the Church of Scotland minister. He was educated at Kirkcaldy High School and is a life-long supporter of Raith Rovers. As a boy he sold programmes for the team outside the ground and is now honourary President.

But unlike his footballing heroes, who were relegated to Scottish League Division Two this season, Mr Brown’s trajectory appears to be upward.

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