GORDON BROWN was braced last night for a pummelling from voters as the local elections campaign reached its climax.

Amid anger over the 10p tax rate abolition and sniping at Mr Brown's leadership, many Labour insiders fear the party could shed up to 200 council seats.

The crucial London Mayoral race was also on a knifeedge, with incumbent Ken Livingstone struggling to fend off the challenge from Tory rival Boris Johnson.

Fewer than half of voters believe Gordon Brown is competent, with most viewing the Prime Minister as a liability for Labour, a poll showed last night.

The ICM survey for the BBC showed that Tory leader David Cameron had moved ahead of his rival.

Only 46 per cent now rate Mr Brown as competent, 11 points down in a year, while Mr Cameron's score has risen nine points from 49 per cent to 58 per cent.

A poor poll showing could make life extremely difficult for Mr Brown, with backbenchers increasingly concerned about their own prospects at the next General Election.

However, the party is already at a low ebb after taking a hammering when council seats last came up for grabs.

The leadership could portray a loss of fewer than 50 seats this time as better than expected, and claim David Cameron has yet to establish the Tories as a Governmentin- waiting.

Apart from the high-profile post of London Mayor, the capital's residents were also deciding London Assembly elections, while 159 councils in England and Wales have a total of 4,102 seats up for grabs.

The first official results are not due until noon today. The mayoral race declaration is not expected until tonight.

Mr Brown and his wife, Sarah, cast their votes early yesterday morning, visiting the Methodist Central Hall, in Westminster, only a few minutes' walk from Downing Street.

Ministers have sought to quell anger over the 10p tax row this week by apologising for apparently failing to realise that millions of low earners would lose out.

On Wednesday, Mr Brown acknowledged that the Government had got it wrong in his most contrite comments to date.

He said: "I will be honest about it, we made two mistakes.

We did not cover as well as we should have that group of low-paid workers and lowincome people who do not get the working tax credit; and we were not able to help the 60 to 64-year-olds who do not get pensioners' tax allowance."

He said, however, that Chancellor Alistair Darling was dealing with the issue and that poorer people would benefit overall from the recent Budget.

Yesterday's vote is seen as the first substantial verdict on Mr Brown's premiership.