London, Jan 6 : Two senior former British ministers called for a ballot on Prime Minister Gordon Brown's leadership Wednesday - just months before the general election.

The pair, both of whom served under Brown in the cabinet, have written to colleagues asking for a secret internal party ballot of parliamentarians to "lay the matter to rest".

The two ministers who have called for the ballot are Geoff Hoon, a former defence minister, and Patricia Hewitt, a former health minister.

Brown, who took over from Tony Blair as prime minister in 2007 without an election, has suffered two years of poor opinion polls and repeated failed attempts from some within his party to dislodge him.

Britain must have a general election by June at the latest, with the opposition Conservative Party holding a double-digit lead over Labour in recent opinion polls.

Unusually, the British political system allows the governing party to set the date of the election, within a five-year limit.

Last summer a string of junior ministers resigned in protest at Brown's leadership, but the attempted coup fizzled out. (DPA)