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He was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Rugby in the 1923 general election but lost his in the 1924 general election. In 1927 he returned to Parliament in a by-election at Leith. During this time he became a devote follower of Sir John Simon as the latter became increasinly at odds with the leader of the Liberals, David Lloyd George, and the party's support for the minority Labour government of Ramsay MacDonaldJames Ramsay MacDonald ( October 12, 1866 November 9, 1937) was Britain's first Labour Prime Minister (January-November 1924 and June 1929-August 1931) and subsequently Prime Minister of the "National" Government of August 1931-June 1935. Biography Born a. In 19311931 is the common year starting on Thursday. see link for calendar) Events January January 4 Female aviator Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa January 6 Thomas Edison submits his last patent application. January 22 Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as the he followed Simon in resigning the Liberal party whip and then subsequently in setting up the Liberal Nationals.

In the National GovernmentIn the United Kingdom the term National Government is in an abstract sense used to refer to a coalition of some or all major political parties. In a historical sense it usually refers primarily to the governments of Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin and N of Ramsay MacDonaldJames Ramsay MacDonald ( October 12, 1866 November 9, 1937) was Britain's first Labour Prime Minister (January-November 1924 and June 1929-August 1931) and subsequently Prime Minister of the "National" Government of August 1931-June 1935. Biography Born a, Brown became Parliamentery Secretary to the Ministry of HealthMany governments, both national and more local, have a Department of Health . This article is about the British one. The Department of Health is a department of the British Government. It is led by the Secretary of State for Health with two junior Ministe in NovemberNovember is also the letter N in the NATO phonetic alphabet. November is the eleventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 30 days. From the Latin novem for " nine". It was originally the ninth month of the year in the early Roman calendar, w 19311931 is the common year starting on Thursday. see link for calendar) Events January January 4 Female aviator Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa January 6 Thomas Edison submits his last patent application. January 22 Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as the. The following year the official Liberals resigned from the government and Brown was promoted to become Secretary for Mines . In 1935Events January January 1 Italian colonies of Tripoli and Kyrenaika are joined together as Libya January 7 World War II: Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French foreign minister Pierre Laval conclude agreement in which each power undertakes not to oppo when MacDonald was succeeded as Prime Minister by Stanley Baldwin, Brown entered the Cabinet as Minister of Labour. This proved controversial as many believed that the Minister of Transport Leslie Hore-Belisha, had a stronger claim to be the next Liberal National to enter the Cabinet, though as unemployment was one of the government's biggest problems, many others felt that Brown's appointment to the job was not one to envy. He held the post for the next five years under both Baldwin and his successor, Neville Chamberlain.

When Chamberlain fell in 1940 he was succeeded by Winston Churchill who moved Brown to the position of Secretary of State for Scotland. At the same time Brown became the leader of the Liberal Nationals after Sir John Simon was transferred to the House of Lords. Brown served as Secretary of State for Scotland for a year before becoming Minister of Health for two years and finally Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. By this point the Liberal Nationals were in decline in influence, and when in 1945 Churchill formed his "Caretaker" government he did not include Brown or any other senior Liberal Nationals in the Cabinet, despite claiming to head a " National" administration. Brown was instead appointed Minister of Aircraft Production. In the 1945 general election Brown lost his seat.

Brown had a reputation for being a fast speaker and many contemporary political commentators estimated that he could deliver a statement to the House of Commons faster than any other minister.