Expectations of an early general election, possibly in the spring of 2008, grew on Friday night as two opinion polls showed Labour surging ahead of the Conservatives following Gordon Brown’s accession to the premiership.

As the new prime minister completed his ministerial line-up, bringing in a clutch of non-Labour outsiders, there was undeniable evidence of a “Brown bounce” in the polls, suggesting voters have warmed to Labour in the days since Tony Blair’s departure.