“Call that election,” the opposition leader said yesterday. The British opposition leader, David Cameron.

Britain has shorter campaigns than ours. They need only be three weeks long. There’s a chance the Poms will head to the hustings before we do, perhaps as soon as November 1.

The Conservatives’ polling has tumbled since Gordon Brown’s ascension. A YouGov poll on Friday gave Labor a double-digit lead. Brown is tempted. Cameron’s task this week, at the Conservative Party conference, is to stand firm under fire. If he can, Brown may blink and abandon the idea of an early election.

John Howard lacks this luxury. He needs to call an election, and soon. All he can do is stand firm. Stand firm – and maybe contemplate what a difference a change might have made.