Premiership of Tony Blair elected Labour leader as the only successfully nominated candidate with 313 nominations compared to John McDonnell's 29 at close of nominations on 17 May 2007, the result being declared formally and coming into effect on 24 June 2007 with Tony Blair resigning as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007 and Gordon Brown being asked to form a government by The Queen later that day. Blair stepped down as an MP immediately triggering a by-election in Sedgefield. He has declined the traditional seat in the House of Lords offered to former Prime Ministers, commenting that it is, "not my scene" Tony
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (UK Parliament constituency) The first Member of Parliament after the seat's creation in 2005, was the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, Gordon Brown; who had previously represented Dunfermline East from 1983 to 2005, and would later succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister in 2007. At the general election of 2010, Brown was re-elected as an MP, but was defeated as Prime Minister, and soon resigned as Leader of the Labour Party. He announced that he would continue to serve as an Opposition backbencher, and did not retire from the Commons until the 2015 election, which he did not contest. On that