Political leaders are traditionally judged on their first 100 days in office. But Gordon Brown had less time than normal to make a mark in his new role as prime minister before Parliament's summer break. Here is our day-by-day guide to his first six weeks in charge.
WEDNESDAY, 27 JUNE
There are no crowds of adoring supporters, no waving plastic flags, and the sky is dark and threatening rain.
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The Browns move into 10 Downing Street
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The contrast with Tony Blair's first day in Downing Street could not be more complete, as Gordon Brown faces the cameras for the first time as prime minister.
Mr Brown appears nervous, tapping the microphone gingerly to see if it is working.
He is determined to show it is the beginning of a new era - not more of the same from a tired administration. His message can be summed up in one word: change.
He uses it eight times during his short address, pledging change in the NHS, housing, schools, to build trust in government and "protect and extend the British way of life".
He promises to continue listening to the British people and to create a government "of all the talents".
He ends by quoting his old school motto "I will try my utmost," adding, as if we had not got the message by now, "let the work of change begin".
THURSDAY, 28 JUNE
Day Two and the newspapers are purring with approval at the apparently modest and sober nature of Mr Brown's arrival at Number 10.
The Daily Mail is even moved to poetry. "Not a hint of spin as Brown moves in," it notes in a banner headline.
Mr Brown has promised a more collegiate style of government
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In an attempt to keep the momentum going, Mr Brown rings the Cabinet changes.
A string of ministers are shown the door including Patricia Hewitt, Margaret Beckett and Hilary Armstrong and there are promotions for the Miliband brothers, long-time ally Ed Balls and Jacqui Smith, who becomes the first female home secretary.
Only defence secretary Des Browne is still in his old job when the music stops.
But there are still enough familiar figures around the table when Mr Brown's Cabinet meets for the first time for the Conservatives to complain that there has been no real change at all.
"He can't change the fact that the same people behind the failures of the past 10 years are still running the government," notes Tory chairman Francis Maude.
FRIDAY, 29 JUNE
Mr Brown had been planning to spend the day talking about constitutional reform.
The new home secretary handled the media chores
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Instead he is plunged into the first security alert of his premiership after two unexploded car bombs are discovered in central London.
It is a chance for the new prime minister to show how he copes with the unexpected. He urges vigilance and does his best to appear calm and statesmanlike.
He decides to press ahead with his reshuffle, leaving new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to handle the bulk of the media chores.
New security minister, Sir Alan West, the former head of the Navy, one of five outsiders brought into Mr Brown's "government of all the talents", is at her side.
SATURDAY, 30 JUNE
Britain is moved to the highest state of security alert after two men crash a burning Jeep Cherokee into Terminal One at Glasgow airport.
Mr Brown makes a televised statement praising the fortitude of the British people and urging vigilance. Another chance to be calm and statesmanlike.
The polls are good for him too. An ICM survey for The Guardian puts Labour on 39%, up seven points on a month ago. People are starting to talk about a Brown "bounce".
SUNDAY, 1 JULY
The first big television interview of Mr Brown's premiership.
He tells the BBC's Andrew Marr of the need to tackle extremism by winning "hearts and minds" and says the debate about extending the detention of terror suspects is for another day. It is written up as a shift of emphasis from the Blair era.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne insists on the same programme that the Conservatives will not change direction, despite growing pressure from the right of the party.
MONDAY, 2 JULY
Tory leader David Cameron unveils his response to Mr Brown's reshuffle, promoting some of the party's rising stars and bringing more women into his top team.
Sayeeda Warsi becomes the first Muslim woman to sit on the front bench of a British political party.
And just to show Mr Brown is not the only one with friends outside politics, he drafts diplomat Dame Pauline Neville Jones into the shadow Cabinet as his security spokesman.
TUESDAY, 3 JULY
Mr Brown appears in the Commons for the first time as prime minister. The subject of his first statement is constitutional reform, which he sees as central to his mission to restore trust in politics.
He promises to give MPs the final say over going to war and floats the idea of a "bill of rights" - but prompts Tory scorn by ruling out "English votes for English laws".
Mr Brown has used prime minister's questions to announce policies
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It is "classic Brown," says the BBC's Nick Assinder, "weighty, strategic, littered with traps for the opposition and with just a sprinkle of re-announcements and spin on top".
Sir Menzies Campbell, meanwhile, unveils his response to Mr Brown's reshuffle, with promotions for rising stars David Laws and Danny Alexander.
WEDNESDAY, 4 JULY
It has been talked up by the media as a clash of the political titans - The Clunking Fist vs The Hoodie slugging it out for the undisputed heavyweight title of the world.
Mr Cameron was judged to have won on points
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But in the end, Mr Brown's first prime minister's question time punch-up with David Cameron is a curiously muted affair.
Mr Brown makes the biggest blunder - telling Mr Cameron he has "only been in the job five days". This is not only factually wrong - he has been PM for seven days - but makes him look weak - a cardinal sin in the Commons bear pit.
Most pundits give the bout to Mr Cameron on points - but the two men are still clearly trying to get the measure of each other.
THURSDAY, 5 JULY
The terror threat level is reduced to severe. BBC correspondent Alan Johnston enjoys his first full day of freedom. And parts of northern England are submerged beneath a brown tide of filthy flood water.
FRIDAY, 6 JULY
Mr Brown is accused of ignoring the plight of flood victims in Hull and Doncaster.
Meanwhile, it emerges his new trade minister, Sir Digby Jones, or "Comrade Digby" as he has been ironically dubbed, had spoken to David Cameron about becoming the Tories' mayoral candidate.
The ex-CBI chief, whose refusal to join the Labour Party is a source of annoyance to the party's MPs, says he rejected the idea out of hand. The Tories beg to differ.
SATURDAY, 7 JULY
Mr Brown is told to "get his finger out," by flood victim Angela Rudd, as he finally pays a visit to the "forgotten city" of Hull.
He praises the "heroic" efforts of the emergency services and announces a £14m aid package. Council leader Carl Minns says it is not enough.
SUNDAY, 8 JULY
Westminster is buzzing with speculation about Alastair Campbell's diaries, due to be published on Monday.
Mr Brown, who has no public engagements, spends the day with his family.
MONDAY, 9 JULY
Alastair Campbell's diaries contain few revelations that would embarrass Mr Brown - they have, as the author admits, been edited out.
Mr Brown says he is too busy running the country to read the 794-page tome. He plays host to Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates in Downing Street.
TUESDAY, 10 JULY
After Cabinet, which in another innovation now takes place on Tuesday rather than Thursday, Mr Brown hops into a ministerial car to visit a flagship secondary school in Brent, west London.
He is accompanied by Ed Balls, the newly appointed Children, Schools and Families Secretary.
WEDNESDAY, 11 JULY
Round Two in the question time clash of the titans - and this time Mr Brown comes armed with a headline-grabbing announcement.
He tells a packed Commons he will review - Westminster code for scrap - controversial plans for a super casino.
Another day, another storm visit
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This fits with his pledge to tell Parliament - rather than a favourite newspaper - about big policy changes. Cynics wonder if the Cabinet were also consulted.
But there is no time for idle speculation as Mr Brown launches into another blizzard of announcements.
In his first summer statement - or "mini-Queen's Speech - " he sets out the government's plans for the coming Parliamentary session. They are dominated by housing and a pledge to build three million new homes by 2020.
David Cameron says he has heard it all before from this government. Sir Menzies Campbell says Mr Brown has too many new laws in the pipeline and should focus on "quality not quantity".
THURSDAY, 12 JULY
The Daily Mail, which fought a campaign against super casinos, is overjoyed at Mr Brown's apparent U-turn, hailing it in a front page headline as a "very moral victory".
In the Guardian, Michael White muses on just how moral a move it is, given that Mr Brown did not oppose Tessa Jowell's original bill.
"Mr Brown has so far managed to sound more high-minded than his predecessor, while acting in a blatantly political way," he writes.
The new prime minister's plans housing pledge also receive a mixed reception, with the Daily Telegraph dismissing it as a "wish list" rather than a realistic target.
Mr Brown, meanwhile, spends the evening rubbing shoulders with various sporting heroes, including football managers Sir Alex Ferguson and Sam Allardyce, at a Labour Party fundraising dinner at the new Wembley Stadium. Tony Blair is also present.
FRIDAY, 13 JULY
Continuing the sporting theme, Mr Brown hits the tennis courts as he visits another London secondary school with Ed Balls. Mr Balls looks on admiringly as the prime minister, a county standard player in his youth, demonstrates his serve.
Sport is a top priority for the new prime minister
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The pair are promoting a new initiative on schools sports - although journalists seem more interested in talking about a speech last night by Douglas Alexander which has been interpreted as a cooling of relations with America.
The shine also comes off Thursday evening's fundraising dinner when it emerges disgraced tycoon Owen Oyston had been one of the guests.
Mr Brown is reportedly furious. He lets it be known that any money donated by Mr Oyston, a convicted rapist, will not be accepted by the party.
SATURDAY, 14 JULY
Labour's National Policy Forum - a two-day session at Heathrow hotel - aimed at coming up with ideas for debate at the party's Autumn conference.
In what is billed by Labour's press office as another break with tradition, Mr Brown gives a speech to the media. It is about housing.
SUNDAY, 15 JULY
Day two of Labour's national policy forum at a Heathrow hotel.
An ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph gives Labour its biggest lead over the Conservatives for two years, putting them on 40% to the Tories' 33%.
MONDAY, 16 JULY
The day begins with a trip to Northern Ireland, where Mr Brown meets Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and the leaders of the devolved UK governments at Stormont.
All smiles at an historic Stormont summit
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In what would have seemed a surreal scene not long ago, he shares a joke with Rev Ian Paisley and chats with Martin McGuinness as the leaders gather for a group photo. He even shakes hands with Alex Salmond for the first time since the SNP leader became Scotland's first minister.
As he flies to Berlin for a meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel, Foreign Secretary David Miliband announces the expulsion of four Russian diplomats over Russia's lack of cooperation in the Litvinenko murder case.
TUESDAY, 17 JULY
The newspapers are full of reports about a new "Cold War" with Russia, although Mr Brown earns praise for taking a firm line with Russia in what is the first foreign policy test of his premiership.
The subject is top of the agenda at the weekly Cabinet meeting.
WEDNESDAY, 18 JULY
Another week, another big PMQ announcement. This time, Mr Brown tells MPs cannabis laws are to be reviewed. The newspapers are starting to talk about a new mood of Puritanism sweeping Downing Street.
THURSDAY, 19 JULY
The first potential tabloid scandal of Mr Brown's premiership, as nearly half the Cabinet admit taking drugs - or, at least, confess to puffing on the occasional joint at university, but that was more than 20 years ago and anyway they did not enjoy it.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith starts the ball rolling by admitting she dallied with cannabis at Oxford, telling GMTV "I did break the law... I was wrong... drugs are wrong".
The first tabloid scandal of the Brown premiership?
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Similar admissions follow from other Cabinet heavyweights, including such unlikely figures as Chancellor Alistair Darling and Business and Enterprise Secretary John Hutton.
Mr Brown remains calm. He has never indulged himself but it is a "personal matter" for those who have.
Meanwhile, the long-running cash-for-honours saga, which cast a cloud of a different kind over Tony Blair's last days in office - and may even have hastened his departure from Number 10 - is to end without charges being brought, the BBC reveals.
FRIDAY, 20 JULY
The good news keeps on coming for Mr Brown, as he passes the first by-election tests of his premiership.
Tony Blair's old stronghold of Sedgefield was never going to be in doubt - but the Tories and Lib Dems both fancied their chances in Ealing Southall.
Floods caused havoc in Gloucestershire
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David Cameron's hand-picked candidate, local celebrity Tony Lit, comes a disappointing third in the west London seat, barely improving the Tories' share of the vote.
The results spark speculation Mr Brown will go for a snap general election, in an effort capitalise on the Brown bounce.
Meanwhile, torrential rain hits southern England, with some areas experiencing a month's rainfall in a single hour.
SATURDAY, 21 JULY
Mr Brown spends the day at Chequers with his family.
SUNDAY, 22 JULY
Mr Brown spends the day at Chequers with his family.
MONDAY, 23 JULY
Determined not to be criticised again for being slow to respond, Mr Brown rises at 0500 GMT to go by helicopter to Gloucestershire, where he meets victims of the weekend's floods and the emergency services.
He returns to Downing Street for 1100 GMT, for the first of his monthly press conferences, which is dominated by the subject of the floods.
The Downing Street press conference was introduced by Tony Blair - but it is a very different beast with Mr Brown at the helm.
"It was a strangely halting un-theatrical performance which people will either take as welcome relief from the gloss of Blair, or will find deadly dull," says the BBC's Nick Assinder.
More thrilling - for fans of the supposed new Puritanism, at least - is Mr Brown's announcement that 24-hour drinking laws are to be reviewed.
TUESDAY, 24 JULY
Mr Brown earned praise in some quarters for avoiding a knee-jerk response to the failed bomb plots in London and Glasgow, insisting any talk of extending detention without charge was for another day.
It turns out this is that other day.
"The time is now right," says Jacqui Smith for a rethink on the detention of terror suspects. Mr Brown favours doubling the current time limit to 56 days, but he will have a fight on his hands with the Tories and some Labour backbenchers threatening to vote against it.
The Tories, meanwhile, think they have discovered a fruitful line of attack against the new prime minister.
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague calls on Mr Brown to "trust the people" by calling a referendum on the EU treaty, which he says resurrects most of the old EU referendum.
WEDNESDAY, 25 JULY
David Cameron accuses Mr Brown of breaking a personal commitment to a referendum on the EU constitution, at prime minister's questions.
But Mr Brown is able to bat the accusation away by accusing Mr Cameron of retreating to the old Tory agenda, following the Ealing Southall by-election.
Mr Cameron has been having a torrid time of late, with accusations he ignored his flood-stricken Oxfordshire constituents by jetting off to an aid project in Rwanda.
The wheels are coming off Mr Cameron's bicycle, says Mr Brown to squeals of delight from Labour MPs.
THURSDAY, 26 JULY
More opinion poll joy for Mr Brown, as Parliament rises for the summer recess. A YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph puts Labour nine points ahead, on 41%, no doubt helping create a good-humoured mood at the Cabinet's Chequers awayday.
Mr Brown will have to decide "within weeks" about whether to go for a general election in October "before a demoralised Conservative Party can regroup - or wait until spring or later", writes the newspaper's political editor George Jones.
Harriet Harman is appointed to her fifth post - equalities secretary. She had already been dubbed "four hats Harman" by the Tories, as she held the posts of Commons leader, deputy Labour leader, party chairwoman and minister for women.
The government is criticised for not holding a referendum on the EU treaty, by Labour MP and former minister Gisela Stuart - who helped draw up the failed EU Constitution.
FRIDAY, 27 JULY
There is more speculation in the newspapers that Mr Brown might be preparing to call a snap election, to profit from the apparent "Brown bounce" in the polls.
The government is criticised for issuing more than 100 written statements in the last few days before Parliament's summer recess, amid suggestions bad news was being "buried". Ms Harman replies it is simply a "practical issue".
SATURDAY, 28 JULY
No public engagements for Mr Brown, as he prepares to head out on a two-day trip to the US.
SUNDAY, 29 JULY
Mr Brown flies out to Camp David for a private dinner with George Bush at the Maryland retreat.
Commentators wait to see how the relationship will differ from the close friendship his predecessor enjoyed with the US president - which some believed to be politically damaging to Tony Blair. There is speculation Mr Brown will want to distance himself from the president.
MONDAY, 30 JULY
Mr Brown holds his first summit with President Bush dressed in suits and ties, reportedly at the prime minister's insistence. It is a stark contrast to Mr Blair's more casual attire on his first visit to Camp David, when he self-consciously strode up to the microphone in a pair of very tight jeans.
There was much speculation about how the two men would get on
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At a joint press conference, Mr Brown and Mr Bush renew pledges to work together on fighting terrorism and trying to improve things in Iraq. Commentators note that Mr Brown, while talking warmly of the two countries' shared history and values, does not return Mr Bush's personal compliments.
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the language difference appeared to reflect "differing political calculations".
"Gordon Brown wants to show his distance from George Bush, whereas the president wants to prove that the alliance with Britain remains strong, even after Tony Blair's departure."
Mr Bush presents the prime minister with a fur-trimmed leather bomber jacket, complete with a Camp David logo, as a memento of his visit. Mr Brown's gift for the President is a book on Winston Churchill.
Back in the UK, Tory leader David Cameron faces more trouble from within his own party - activist Ali Miraj accuses him of being "PR obsessed", while former party chairman Lord Saatchi warns him "nicey nicey politics" will not win him the next election.
TUESDAY, 31 JULY
Mr Brown meets UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and gives a speech at the UN, in which he urges leaders to live up to their millennium development goal promises on tackling global poverty. The BBC's Nick Robinson says Mr Brown looked "passionate" while at Camp David he appeared "ill at ease".
The UN Security Council also votes to approve a resolution, co-sponsored by the UK and France and backed by the US, to send a peacekeeping force to Sudan's western region of Darfur - where violence is said to have left 200,000 people dead, and two million homeless.
In television interviews later, Mr Brown tells NBC Nightly News he still talks "regularly" to his predecessor Tony Blair - but says Mr Blair has a "very important job to do" as a Middle East envoy.
He is also asked about his reluctance to use the phrase "war on terror", replying: "It is a war. We have had to fight a very big campaign." He says the counter-terrorism battle is a "struggle for the soul of the 21st Century".
WEDNESDAY, 1 AUGUST
The Times reports that Mr Brown has launched a fundraising campaign, in case he decides to call an autumn general election.
Labour's vice chairman Martin Salter says the party is on an "election footing", but denies any timetable is in place. Both the Lib Dems and the Tories say they are ready for any snap election.
THURSDAY, 2 AUGUST
Mr Brown meets John Smeaton, the baggage handler who shot to fame after helping police tackle a terrorist suspect who was inside a blazing jeep as it was driven into Glasgow Airport's terminal building.
The prime minister arranges to meet Mr Smeaton at Downing Street, after being told he was in London for a TV interview. He says Mr Smeaton is a hero, adding: "John did not wait to act. He immediately went to help, he put his own life at risk."
FRIDAY, 3 AUGUST
Mr Brown sets off on a family holiday to Dorset. His break lasts for four hours.
SATURDAY, 4 AUGUST
Foot-and-mouth alert! The third crisis of Mr Brown's brief time at Number 10 erupts after the virus is discovered on a farm near Guildford, in the South-East of England.
Mr Brown opts to return to London to take charge - no doubt mindful of the criticism the government received during the 2001 outbreak for being slow off the mark.
He chairs what will turn out to be the first of a string of Cobra meetings with Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, who has returned from holiday in Italy.
SUNDAY, 5 AUGUST
Health and safety inspectors arrive at the Surrey laboratory complex identified as a possible source of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
MONDAY, 6 AUGUST
Mr Brown pledges to work "night and day" to solve the foot-and-mouth crisis.
TUESDAY, 7 AUGUST
Yet another Cobra meeting for Mr Brown. His family, meanwhile, have abandoned Dorset in favour of Chequers, the prime minister's traditional country retreat. They still plan to head up to Scotland when the crisis is over.
WEDNESDAY, 8 AUGUST
The Health and Safety Executive publishes an interim report into the foot-and-mouth crisis, as attention focuses on whether employees at a research site transferred the disease to the site of the first outbreak.
Mr Brown, meanwhile, is drawn into commenting on the case of Iraqi interpreters who have been told any claim for asylum in the UK will not be given special treatment.
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