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Brown calls off plans for snap elections

LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on Sunday forced to call off reported plans for a snap election next month after a slew of opinion polls and private polling by Labour Party indicated a slump in the party’s lead with the Tories, for the first time, leading by up to six points in marginal constituencies.

On the strength of these polls, Labour would have struggled to retain its current slim majority in the Commons and, at worst, lost it, resulting in a hung Parliament.

Mr. Brown’s decision, after weeks of intense speculation stoked by his own Ministers, provoked widespread criticism and prompted opposition jibe that he lost his “nerve” at the slightest hint of a mild Tory revival.

The Prime Minister, however, insisted that Labour would have won an election “whether we had it today, next week or weeks later” and claimed the reason he was not calling one was because he had a “vision” for the country which he wanted to implement.

He also seemed to rule out an election next year suggesting that they may not be held until the end of the current term in 2009-2010.

Mr. Brown, who had previously refused to scotch speculation about an early election, broke his silence in a BBC interview.

“I’ll not be calling an election. I have a vision for change in Britain and I want to show people how in government we’re implementing it,” he said.

Tories, who had been consistently trailing in opinion polls until last week, bounced back after they announced a number of populist policies aimed at middle-class voters.

Tory leader David Cameron, who “challenged” Mr. Brown last week to “call that election” declaring that “we will win”, described Mr. Brown’s decision as a “humiliating retreat”. He said the Prime Minister had changed his mind because there was a “danger of him losing it”.

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