British PM Gordon Brown: No Election This Year

LONDON – Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ruled out calling an early election in a bid to gain a stronger mandate for his government, his office said Saturday.

A spokesman said there would not be an election in the coming months, putting an end to weeks of speculation.

Opinion polls showed the main opposition Conservatives closing the gap with Brown's Labour Party.

Brown replaced Tony Blair as premier in June, and does not have to call an election until May 2010. 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.