In an unlikely campaign event, the often solemn Scot was serenaded by Presley look-alike Mark Wright — who performed a version of "The Wonder Of You," as Brown sought to kick start his faltering attempt to retain power in Britain's May 6 ballot.

"As you get nearer to election day you are always upping the tempo," Brown told reporters as he arrived in Corby, central England, to make a speech on health care.

Brown's main rivals — Conservative Party chief David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg — are widely regarded as having performed better than the prime minister in the country's first televised election debates. The second of three clashes aired Thursday, with a final showdown scheduled next week.

Most polls published late Saturday showed both opposition parties — including the perennially third-ranked Liberal Democrats — ahead of Brown's Labour.

A ComRes poll for The Independent newspaper on Sunday put the main opposition Conservatives at 34 percent, with the Liberal Democrats at 29 percent and Brown's Labour at 28 percent. The survey questioned 1,006 people and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

ICM put Brown's Labour at 26 percent, with the Conservatives at 35 percent and the Liberal Democrats at 31 percent. The poll, with the same margin of error, had questioned 1,020 adults.