British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's dilemma over whether or not to call a snap general election was further complicated yesterday with the release of three new polls showing his Labour Party's lead dramatically slashed.
Following Brown's 100th day as prime minister on Thursday, speculation was rife that he could announce an early election and forego the two-and-a-half years he has until he must send the country to the polls.
If he called an election in the coming days and won, he would be entitled to stay in Downing Street until 2012; if he lost, he would go down as the second shortest-serving prime minister in British history.
A Guardian/ICM poll showed Labour, which held an eight-point lead last month, was neck-and-neck with the opposition Conservatives, after the party held what has been regarded as a successful annual conference earlier this week.
Separate Channel 4/YouGov and Times/Populus polls put Labour's lead at four points and three points, respectively, down from leads of 11 and 10 points.
Labour's poll leads before the Conservative conference would have guaranteed a landslide election victory if they were reproduced, but the new polls make any election result more doubtful.
The Guardian, for example, reported that if its ICM poll were replicated in a general election, Labour's current 69-seat majority in the 646-seat House of Commons would be reduced to about 20 seats.
The latest poll releases leave "the PM with a massive headache," the Sun tabloid, Britain's best-read daily, noted in its editorial column.
"The battlefield has changed beyond all recognition in just five days," the paper said.
Further complicating Brown's decision-making process were comments by Finance Minister Alistair Darling, who hinted that he may soon downgrade his economic growth forecasts for Britain in an interview with the Financial Times.
Also fueling rumors of an upcoming election was an announcement from the British finance ministry that its pre-budget report and public spending plans could be presented together on Monday.
The two documents are usually given separately, and traditionally are issued with more notice, but if they were both presented on Monday, Brown would be able to dissolve parliament on Tuesday, the last date to call a general election for Nov. 1, seen as the most likely date.
Brown himself drove election speculation by appearing at the launch of a long-touted health service reform on Thursday, notably declaring that half of all family doctors would be open on evenings and weekends -- a key voter gripe.
Such was the fever pitch of poll talk that opposition leader David Cameron called on Brown to allow senior Conservative politicians to be given access to senior civil servants to allow for talks on a potential transfer of power.
Traditionally, shadow Cabinet ministers are given a chance to meet bureaucrats before an election so that the civil service is ready to implement their policies if they win.
Cameron piled pressure on Brown on Wednesday, challenging him to "go ahead and call that election" in a showpiece speech at the end of his party's annual conference.
Perhaps paradoxically, some commentators said the Tory challenge reduced the chances of an early election -- the successful Conservative conference's impact on polls may have made Brown's gamble far more risky.
Brown is expected to make a final decision this weekend.
If he does go for it, he will be hoping to capitalize on a surprise upturn in Labour's fortunes since he succeeded Blair on June 27 after 10 years in his shadow.
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