The prospect of Gordon Brown calling an early General Election intensified yesterday as it emerged that a wealthy steel magnate is willing to fund Labour's campaign.

Lord Paul, who is thought to be worth around £450m, was a major donor to Mr Brown's recent leadership campaign and he has made it clear he will give the Prime Minister whatever he can afford to fight the next election.

Speaking to The Herald in London last night, Lord Paul said: "First of all the Prime Minister won't need that much money because his impressive performance will encourage many others to donate to the Labour Party because they want him to succeed.

"In my view, Gordon Brown will be the best Prime Minister this country has ever had, and I wrote that 10 years ago in my autobiography. He is very committed and gets on with the job. I don't think there needs to be an election in the near future, but whenever the Prime Minister calls the election I shall donate whatever I can afford."

Lord Paul, a personal friend as well as a political ally of Mr Brown, joined Labour in 1974.

He said: "I was building a plant in Abervale where Michael Foot was the MP. I was so impressed with him that I thought any party that has him is good enough for me."

Mr Brown is facing pressure from within the party to call a snap General Election after a succession of polls have given Labour its biggest lead since the Iraq war. Until recently some of the Prime Minister's closest allies thought he would wait until next April or May before going to the polls but now it appears that they are seriously considering a quick election.

Lord Paul's financial commitment will remove money worries which grew in the wake of the cash-for-peerages row, and the party's £20m debt.

Another factor influencing Labour strategists is the plummeting fortunes of David Cameron, the Tory leader. In the most recent YouGov poll for the Sunday Times, Labour had a 10 point lead.

Mr Brown has wasted no time in making his mark in No 10. Since he succeeded Mr Blair on June 27 he has spent £39bn on a number of initiatives ranging from extra money for defence to early years education and improvements to the railways.

Normally much of the sums involved would have been announced in the spending review due in October but Mr Brown, with the co-operation of Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, had planned to grab the political initiative and the reap the benefits of a political honeymoon.

Mr Brown, on the day he accepted the leadership of the party, named Douglas Alexander as the General Election supremo.

Man of many roles

SWARJ Paul was born in India in 1931. He was educated in India, where his father had a small engineering firm, and later he gained a Master's degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He was given a peerage in 1996. He holds a plethora of roles in public life, and is chairman of the Piggy Bank Kids Projects Ltd, one of the charities set up by the Browns in memory of their daughter, Jennifer. He is chairman of the 2012 Olympic Delivery committee.

In 1966, he brought his daughter Ambika to London to be treated for leukaemia, and although she died he stayed in London. He founded the Caparo group in 1978, which developed into one of the UK's leading steel companies. He is non-domiciled in the UK for tax purposes.