LONDON–British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today he is not planning to call an early general election to capitalize on his widely praised handling of the financial crisis.
Brown, who must call a vote by mid-2010, told BBC radio he is focused exclusively on tackling the downturn – and he isn't contemplating an early election campaign.
Some governing Labour party members believe Brown should call a poll within months, claiming his role in leading efforts to fix the world's economic woes could win over wavering voters.
They suggest Brown should call an election soon after an expected visit by president-elect Barack Obama to Europe in April, when the British leader could seek to harness the new U.S. leader's popularity for his own campaign.
Advocates point to a narrowing of the main opposition Conservative party's lead over Labour in opinion polls. An Ipsos-Mori poll of 1,002 adults conducted Nov. 14-16 gave the Conservatives 40 per cent support, with Brown's Labour at 37 per cent – the smallest lead for the opposition since March.
With samples of this size, the margin of error is usually plus or minus three percentage points.
But Brown told BBC Radio 2 today an early election isn't on his agenda.
"My undivided attention is on the economy. I am not thinking about anything else."
"It is 100 per cent of my attention and you can just discount all of these stories," Brown said.
The British leader lost credibility last year when aides excitedly talked up the prospect of an early election in October – only for Brown to procrastinate and eventually rule out a poll as his ratings began to plunge.
Opposition Conservative chief David Cameron said Brown had ducked a contest, and dismissed the leader's claim he would have won any election, but wanted more time to show the British public his policy ideas.
"He is the first prime minister in history to flunk an election because he thought that he was going to win it," Cameron charged, in an attack on Brown at the House of Commons in October.
