The five tests were designed in 1997, shortly after the Labour Party replaced the Conservatives in government, by former Chancellor Gordon Brown and his then special adviser Ed Balls.
This assessment ran to around 250 pages and was backed up by eighteen supporting studies, on subjects such as housing, labour market flexibility, and the euro area's monetary and fiscal frameworks.
[3] The conclusions were broadly similar; the Treasury argued that: On the basis of this assessment, in May–June 2003, the government ruled out UK membership of the euro for the duration of the Parliament.
Gordon Brown, in his first press conference after succeeding Tony Blair as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 2007, ruled out membership for the foreseeable future, saying that the decision not to join had been right for Britain and for Europe.
[5] However, in late 2008, José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, averred, saying that UK leaders were seriously considering the switch amidst the financial crisis.