Labour is planning to delay the Westminster election to the last possible months, according to its leader at Holyrood.

Wendy Alexander has let slip that the party machine is gearing up to fight the election in 2010, when the five-year maximum term is up.

As Prime Minister and with the choice of timing, Gordon Brown has not been clear when he wants to call the next General Election, having been badly burned by his close aides talking up a snap election last autumn.

He has refused to say if the ballot would take place in 2009, four years since the last national ballot, and following a pattern of four-year elections established by Tony Blair. But as one of those close to the Prime Minister, whose brother Douglas is Labour's campaign manager, Ms Alexander said in an interview with Holyrood magazine this week that Labour is planning on 2010.

Talking about the reforms of the Scottish Labour campaigning machine, she said: "We're now in a continuous campaigning environment where we look forward to European elections next year, the General Election the year after that, the Scottish Parliament election the year after that and the council elections the year after, and really transforming our organisation for that environment."

While Gordon Brown can call the election any time before June 2010, his Holyrood colleague's comments do not come as a surprise. Uncertainty in the economy and poor poll ratings make it unlikely he would risk going a year earlier than he has to by law.

Election timing has proven to be a major problem for Mr Brown. His team's planning for a snap election last autumn was suddenly thrown into reverse when the Tories received a polling boost from their conference.