The British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Gordon Brown, is to become a father, with his wife, Sarah, expected to give birth next February.
A spokesman for the Browns said the couple were overjoyed at the prospect of starting a family.
News that Mrs Brown is expecting a child revived memories of how Mr Brown's Downing Street neighbour, Mr Tony Blair, had his family-man image reinforced with the birth of his fourth child, Leo, in May last year.
The British Prime Minister and his wife, Cherie, were among the first to offer their congratulations. A spokeswoman for the prime minister said Mr Brown had informed Mr Blair of the news prior to the public announcement.
The couple were married at the chancellor's home at North Queensferry, in his Dunfermline East constituency, last August.
Mr David McLetchie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, conveyed his best wishes, and said in a reference to the chancellor's famed economic caution: "I wonder what the odds are on it being called Prudence if it's a girl."
A psychology graduate Mrs Brown formed a public relations consultancy with Ms Julia Hobsbawm, daughter of the Marxist historian Eric, a decade ago.