New poll closes gap between Britain's Labour and Conservative parties as elections loom

LONDON - As the gap between Britain's governing Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives narrows and a long-awaited general election looms, the leader of the country's third party insisted Sunday that he was not the "kingmaker."

There are predictions that when Britain next goes to the polls, the result will be a hung parliament - a House of Commons where no one party has a majority and there is the potential for a coalition government.

But Nick Clegg, who leads the Liberal Democrats, told his party's spring conference the only people who can decide on a government are the voters.

"Some days I read we're planning a deal with Labour, some days that we're planning a deal with the Conservatives, other days that we'll refuse to talk to anyone at all," Clegg told the gathering in Birmingham, England. "I keep coming back to the same simple truths - I am not the kingmaker. The 45 million voters of Britain are the kingmakers."

Of the 646 seats in the House of Commons, Labour holds 346, nearly 60 more than all other parties combined. The Conservatives have 193 seats followed by the Liberal Democrats with 63. Other seats are held by regional parties and independents.

A poll released Sunday showed a narrowing of the margin between Labour and the Conservatives. An ICM survey for the Sunday Telegraph said 38 per cent of voters would support the Conservatives. The Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, had 31 per cent support - a gain of two points from a poll last month, the paper said. The Liberal Democrats, attracted 21 per cent support.

ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,007 British adults by telephone on March 11 and 12. No margin of error was provided, but samples of that size usually have a margin of error of plus or minus three points.

The Conservatives, led by David Cameron, have topped the polls for the past two years, but appear to have grown weaker as the election approaches. By law, a general election must be held by June 3, but the most likely date is early May.

The Labour Party says if it is re-elected it will abolish the House of Lords - Parliament's unelected upper chamber - and replace it with an elected body. That would end centuries of tradition, but Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis told the BBC that change is necessary.

"There will be firm proposals in our manifesto for an elected House of Lords. Of course, you couldn't introduce that reform until after the election, but there'll be firm proposals," Adonis said. "I think the time has now come to make it legitimate in the only way that a legislative assembly can be legitimate in the modern world, which is to be elected."

Since taking office in 1997, Labour has implemented some reforms in the Lords, but moves to create a wholly or partially elected upper chamber have stalled.