David Cameron has urged Gordon Brown to call a general election soon after he takes over from Tony Blair.

The Conservative leader said voters had been promised a full term from Blair at the last national poll.

When, as is widely anticipated, the chancellor takes over the reins at Number 10  some time this summer - only two years after the last national poll - he will not have a "full-throated mandate" as prime minister, Cameron insisted.

He has already said Brown should send the country to the polls as soon as possible into his premiership and he said the Tories would be ready to fight whenever an election is called.

And speaking on the BBC's Sunday AM programme, Cameron said there needed to be a debate on Brown's record in government.

He also called for a move away from the increased state control seen under Labour.

There needed to be a "revolution in responsibility", Cameron said, with schools and hospitals having more say over their own financial and administrative affairs.

Asked about Brown's merits as prime minister, Cameron acknowledged he was a "formidable politician", but added: "I think his problem is his record".

And asked whether Brown becoming prime minister would be any different to John Major's accession in 1990, he said: "I think there's a difference this time in that Tony Blair uniquely said before the last election that 'I'm not going to fight another election but I'm going to do a full term'.

"People elected him for a full term, so we are in a different situation."

"Whoever takes over must know they haven't got that full-throated mandate from the British people, so we should have an early election," he added.