Britain's Gordon Brown is battling to steady his Labour Party's nerves after its worst election defeat for 40 years, but the rout raises serious questions about his future, commentators say.

The British prime minister was left reeling by local polls that saw the main opposition Conservative Party surge back into town halls in England and Wales and even oust eight-year London mayor Ken Livingstone from office.

But while nobody expects Brown to go anytime soon, some see the May I polls --11 years to the day after Tony Blair led Labour into power - as presaging the beginning of the end for the party's hold on national power.

"Just as the local elections of 1995 marked the draining of (then premier) John Major's authority, so those of 2008 announce the sands are running out for Brown,” said Martin Kettle of the normally sympathetic Guardian daily.

Brown has described the results as "bad" and "disappointing" -- an understatement to many -- while Cabinet colleagues have accepted the government has been given a bloody nose.

One rank-and-file Labour member of parliament even said Brown had been put on six months' notice to reverse the slump. Others admit there has been talk of a leadership challenge, although party insiders dismiss this as unlikely.

The most talked-about possible successor. Foreign Secretary David Miliband, has made clear he remains utterly loyal to Brown, and in any case at 42 is widely considered not experienced enough.

The question now, though, is whether Brown's government --still barely 12 months old - is so irrepcrably damaged that Labour will fail to secure a fourth, straight term of office at the next general election.

Notwithstanding the results — which saw Labour limp in third with just 24 percent of the national equivalent vote, a full 20 points

behind the Tories — and the negative headlines. Brown still has time on his side, say some.

A general election does not have to be called until mid-2010 at the latest

And while newspaper editorials Saturday all recognised that he failed his first major electoral test since taking over from Tony Blair and sensed a Tory resurgence, Brown still has the benefit of the doubt.

Significantly, the mass-selling newspapers The Daily Mail and The Sun. perceived by politicians to have the greatest influence in shaping British public opinion, remain “on-side*.

The next few weeks could deter-_ mine how long Brown is given such leeway.

New legislative proposals due in the coming weeks are being billed as the start of a relaunch, although truth told, the man once called "the big clunking fist" has already had more fightbacks in 10 months than an ageing boxer.