Labour's lead slashed in new polls

By Adrian Croft

LONDON (Reuters) - The Conservatives have slashed the Labour Party's lead, opinion polls showed on Thursday, throwing into doubt any plans Prime Minister Gordon Brown had for an early election.

A poll in the Guardian newspaper showed the two parties had drawn level. An earlier version on the Guardian's Web site had shown Labour with a narrow one-point lead.

Other polls showed Labour leading by three or four points.

The voter soundings will come as a shock to Brown who had been considering taking advantage of Labour's earlier lead of up to 11 points to call a November election -- two and a half years before he needs to.

Channel 4 News said several Labour MPs in marginal seats were urging Brown to delay an election.

Analysts say an early poll would be a gamble for Brown, who took over from Tony Blair in June and is aiming to bring Labour a fourth consecutive election victory.

If he lost, Brown would go down as one of the shortest serving prime ministers in British history. If he failed to increase Labour's parliamentary majority of 64 at the 2005 election it would undermine his authority.

"It definitely means we are still on tenterhooks," said John Curtice, politics professor at Strathclyde University.