Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Saturday ruled out calling an early election, putting an end to weeks of fevered speculation that he would soon seek a stronger mandate from the electorate.

?I’ll not be calling an election,? Brown said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. journalist Andrew Marr. Brown said he wanted to give his government time to implement its platform of public policy reform.

?I have a vision for change in Britain, and I want to show people how in government we’re implementing it,? Brown said. His announcement comes after opinion polls this week showed the main opposition Conservatives closing the gap with Brown’s Labour Party.
A poll for the News of the World newspaper, released Saturday, had more bad news for Brown. A survey of 83 constituencies where Labour’s majority is small gave the party 38 percent support, compared with 44 percent for the Conservatives. In an election, those figures would result in Labour losing control of Parliament.

Brown replaced Tony Blair as premier in June, and does not have to call an election until May 2010. But there has been widespread speculation that he would call an early election to seek his own, five-year mandate and to increase Labour’s majority in Parliament.

Brown enjoyed a comfortable lead in polls over the summer thanks to his sure-footed handling of several potential crises, including the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow, floods in England and an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Early election talk intensified after Brown made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Tuesday and said British forces there would be cut by 1,000 by Christmas. But the Conservatives surged after leader David Cameron gave a strong speech to his party’s annual conference this week, in which he made eye-catching promises including a cut in inheritance tax.
Polls published Friday showed Labour and the Tories neck-and-neck, with one giving them both the support of 38 percent of voters.


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