Cameron: British election will be close contest

Britain's main opposition leader David Cameron acknowledged Sunday the country's looming national election will likely be a closer contest than predicted, but vowed to oust Prime Minister Gordon Brown and win office.

Addressing a final major rally of his Conservative Party before the election, Cameron promised to quickly reduce Britain's rocketing national debt, reform schools and cut immigration.

He told activists at a conference in the southern coastal city of Brighton that Britain couldn't afford the "incredible dark depression of another five years of Gordon Brown."

"It is an election that we have to win because our country is in a complete mess and it is our patriotic duty to turn it around and give this country a better future," Cameron told party stalwarts.

Britain must hold an election by June 3, but Brown has not yet announced when it will take place. Many experts expect the poll to be held on May 6 - already the scheduled date for town hall elections.

Though Cameron's Conservatives have led Brown's governing Labour in opinion polls for more than two years, the gap between the parties has narrowed in recent weeks. An Ipsos-Mori poll published last week put the Conservatives 5 percentage points ahead, down from 17 points in a survey by the same pollster in December.

Analysts who previously predicted Cameron would likely win the election with a small majority now suggest Britain could have its first hung Parliament - in which no party has an outright majority - since 1974.

"They don't hand general election victories and governments on a plate to people in this country, and quite right too," Cameron said. "This election was always going to be close."

Cameron pledged an emergency budget within 50 days of taking office to set out cuts to public spending and begin reducing the country's 178 billion pounds ($271 billion) deficit. His party has vowed to raise Britain's retirement age, cut the number of members of Parliament and scrap dozens of government funded organizations.

"I think everyone in this country knows that another five years of Gordon Brown would be a disaster for our country," Cameron said. "Another five years of spending and bloat and waste and debt and taxes. Another five years of failing to get to grips with our big social problems."

Cameron vowed to use the election campaign to scrutinize Brown's economic record and "tear it up, piece by piece."

The 42-year-old former public relations executive said he now feels confident he's prepared to lead Britain, five years after winning the leadership of his party - which last held office in 1997.

"I feel more confident I have what it takes to turn this country around and get it moving again," he told the conference.