Council chief executives' society Solace has taken out an insurance policy in case an autumn general election wrecks its annual conference. Solace director general David Clark said ‘We think an autumn election is a strong possibility. Being a prudent chief executives' organisation we've taken out a big fat insurance policy just in case.' Prime Minister Gordon Brown is unlikely to have decided when he will go to the polls as yet. And while opinion polls put him in the lead, the local by-elections show support for Labour is sagging. According to an August survey by pollsters Ipsos MORI, Labour is five points ahead of the Tories. Indicators from the local by-elections look far more promising for the Conservatives. Tories lost two seats in August's by-elections but Labour's overall vote share was cut. However, eight of the 13 by-elections during the month were in Tory territory. If the prime minister does decide to hold an autumn election, it looks likely to be in the first week of November. SOLACE is still unsure whether the conference – to be held in Cardiff from 9-11 October – would have to be cancelled, or if there would be sufficient delegates for it to go ahead, should the election be called for early October. The odds on an autumn election began to shorten early last month when the Tories began to slip behind.