Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced the date of 6 May for the UK general election.

A four-week election battle lies ahead of the British public as Prime Minister Gordon Brown has met the Queen today to ask for the dissolution of Parliament.

Brown has taken the journey from Number 10 Downing Street to Buckingham Palace to trigger a Thursday 6 May general election, and is the 10th Prime Minister to ask Queen Elizabeth II.

Before launching his “GB on the road campaign”, the Prime Minister will say the choice is between securing the recovery and a reckless Tory party that will derail it. He will insist that the Tories are alone in believing this year is the right time to cut £6 billion in government spending.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, will counter by promising to fight for what he calls the “Great Ignored”. In a London constituency, he will say: “Young, old, rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight. They start businesses, operate factories, teach our children, clean the streets, grow our food and keep us healthy – keep us safe.

“They work hard, pay their taxes, obey the law. They’re good, decent people – they’re the people of Britain and they just want a reason to believe that anything is still possible in our country. This election is about giving them that reason, giving them that hope.”

For the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg will travel to the three-way marginal seat of Watford. He will say that after “13 years of dodging elections, despite being a key player in some of the most disastrous decisions, such as taking the country into an illegal war and a deep recession, [Brown] can’t avoid going to the polls any longer…The election marks the beginning of the end of Brown.”

Last night a poll for The Sun newspaper gave the Tories a 10-point lead, giving the party more than 40% of support for the first time in a YouGov survey since January. The Conservatives are on 41%, Labour 31% and the Liberal Democrats 18%. However, a rather surprising ICM poll for The Guardian newspaper has put the Tories on 37%, Labour on 33% and the Liberal Democrats on 21% - reflecting something of a transient electorate.

The ‘wash up’ of Parliament will now take place until its dissolution next Monday 12 April, and the official start of the election campaign.

There will be three televised debates between Brown, Cameron and Clegg over the coming weeks – the first on 15 April between on ITV about domestic politics, the second on 22 April on Sky on foreign affairs, and the third on BB1 on 29 April covering the economy.