PM 'orders October election plan'

Labour has been riding high in the polls since Mr Brown took over as Prime Minister in June, while his personal ratings have been boosted by solid handling of successive terrorism, flooding and foot-and-mouth crises.

The scale of the so-called "Brown bounce" has sparked fevered speculation in Westminster that he could gamble on an early date with the electorate - despite his party being heavily in debt.

According to the Observer, the Premier has now ordered his top election team to produce a blueprint of options which would allow him to call a vote in October.

He is expected to hold a meeting of key figures - including Cabinet ministers Douglas Alexander and Ed Miliband - at the beginning of September to make a final decision.

Senior Labour figures and MPs still believe that the timing of a vote is most likely to be next spring or summer.

However, the move suggests that the possibility of an earlier poll is being seriously entertained by the leadership.

Some believe a snap election could ease the financial pressure on Labour because the campaign would be relatively short. It is also thought that trade unions and wealthy donors are prepared to step in to fill any funding gap.

In contrast to Mr Brown, David Cameron has been enduring a torrid period with some sections of his party publicly expressing dissatisfaction with his approach. He was also widely criticised for travelling to Rwanda for the launch of a report on globalisation last month, while much of his Witney constituency was flooded.

A leaked memo from Conservative chairman Caroline Spelman warns the party's MPs and candidates that they must be ready for an election as early as next month.