Holiday UK for party leaders

The Tory leader will visit Cornwall with his wife and children, while the Prime Minister is understood to be looking at a traditional "bucket and spade" break with his family in East Anglia.

Both men are believed to be ready to head off for what aides have dubbed the "battle of the beaches" soon after Parliament rises for an 11-week summer recess at the end of this month. Mr Cameron spent 10 days in Brittany last year but has opted for a weeklong British holiday this year in a show of support for the domestic tourist industry. He hopes to spend a week abroad soon after.

Mr Brown managed just four hours' holiday in Dorset last summer before he was forced to head back to London to deal with the foot-and-mouth crisis, as well as oversee the aftermath of the floods.

This year he is expected to have a week's break on the coast - possibly in north Norfolk or near Southwold in Suffolk - before heading up to his family home in Scotland for the remainder of his time off.

The two men have two more weeks to slug it out before the break. A packed agenda will see a sleaze probe published on Tory party chairman Caroline Spelman, the Glasgow East by-election and a much-anticipated visit to London by US presidential contender Barack Obama.

Mr Brown and Mr Cameron hope to get away as soon as possible after the Obama roadshow moves on, but their approaches to their respective holidays this year are in contrast to their experiences last summer.

The Tory leader was then suffering a slump in the polls after a string of rows over grammar schools and his decision to jet out to Rwanda while his Oxfordshire constituency coped with flooding. This year he basks in a 20-point opinion poll lead. By contrast, Mr Brown is set to head off for his break with his worst ratings since taking over at No 10. Last summer, he was widely praised for his reaction to the crises that hit the country and made a virtue out of the fact that he had almost no holiday.

While Mr Cameron is away, Tory deputy leader William Hague will take on his media duties. Labour has yet to decide whether Jack Straw or Harriet Harman, the Deputy Labour leader, should share the broadcasting duties in Mr Brown's absence.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has opted for that other British staple of the summer - a break in Spain with relatives.