Brown dampens June election speculation

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown dismissed speculation yesterday that he would call an election in June to capitalise on a bounce in popularity inspired by his prominence in the global response to the financial crisis.

Mr Brown has been praised at home and abroad for his leadership through the banking crisis, and as a result his ruling Labour party has clawed its way back to near level pegging with the opposition Conservatives in opinion polls.

Just months ago, polls indicated Labour was bound for a heavy defeat in an election which must be called by May 2010.

"My undivided attention is on the economy, I'm not thinking about anything else, it's 100 per cent of my attention and you can just discount all these stories," Mr Brown told BBC Radio.

"I'm less interested in my ratings than in what is happening to the world and to people in our country at the moment. I'm here to do a job."

Media reports yesterday quoting sources close to Mr Brown said he could call an election for June 4 to coincide with European Parliament and local government elections.

Mr Brown chose not to call an election in the months after he assumed power from Tony Blair in June 2007, a decision that hurt his popularity and kicked off a challenging first year in power.