TIMELINE - Brown's first 13 months as PM

(Reuters) - In just over a year as prime minister, Gordon Brown's popularity and that of the Labour Party have plummeted.

Here is a chronology of his first 13 months in office:

June 24, 2007 - Brown, chancellor 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 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.