The Conservatives renewed their challenge to Gordon Brown to call an early election after David Cameron pulled off a significant comeback in the opinion polls.
With a decision thought to be just 72 hours away, the Prime Minister now finds himself confronted by a buoyant Conservative party galvanised by a successful conference this week.David Cameron has improved his position significantly from last week, when he was way behind Gordon Brown.The YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4, published this evening, shows Labour on 40 per cent (down 4 points), Conservatives 36 per cent (up three) and the Liberal Democrats 13 (unchanged).

It means Labour’s lead has been cut from 11 points last week to four. In addition, a Guardian poll by ICM - which tends to favour the Tories - is thought to have the Conservatives almost neck and neck with Labour.
Mr Brown is due to make a statement in the House of Commons on Monday, when he may announce the autumn elections. But before that he’ll seriously study exit polls over the weekend.BBC political analyst Nick Robinson feels

Brown would be mad - and he isn’t - to allow his fate to rest on one set of polls straight after the Tories’ best week for a long time.

The shift in the polls now puts the early election decision on a knife edge, with a Labour victory far less assured that it was a week ago when Mr Brown’s lead almost doubled.George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, told the BBC’s Question Time,

Either we have this election - which the current opinion polls and the state of the Conservative Party suggest we’ve got a good chance of winning - or he bottles it.

Mr Cameron urged in his unscripted address

Call that election...We will fight. Britain will win.

Yesterday Labour MPs in marginal constituencies urged Mr Brown to delay going to the country.But the Prime Minister’s aides have insisted that plans for an election are still under way at Westminster with a blitz of announcements set for early next week to regain the initiatives from the Tories.BBC political correspondent James Hardy said

Mr Brown had been tested by floods, foot-and-mouth and terror threats but that his biggest test - whether or not to call a general election - was still ahead of him.

Labours still appear quite confident, as a senior ally of brown remarked.

the structural position has not changed from where we were two weeks ago. A four point gap is fine after their week in the headlines is fine.

Despite his party’s rebound, Mr Cameron personal poll ratings are still behind Mr Brown on many crucial areas. In short, Labour’s confidence is borne from the fact that they say Mr Brown is a man for a crisis - a solid, experienced leader who makes all his decisions after careful thought and in the interests of the whole country. So going by all, election in autumn seems obvious. As a Government source puts it

The mood is one of confidence, but not complacency. We think still have most things in our favour.