...and from film hunks to exotic lamb chops, a few of her favourite things

Any woman forced to spend her working day surrounded by the likes of Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and Chris Grayling could be forgiven for seeking a bit of hunky Hollywood glamour when they relax.

And it seems Theresa May is no different, judging from her favourite films, which feature three of the biggest male movie stars of all time – Humphrey Bogart, Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.

She told The Mail on Sunday her favourite films are Casablanca, the tragic Second World War love story starring Bogart and Ingmar Bergman, below; the 1990s thriller The Fugitive with Harrison Ford; and you Only Live Twice, Connery’s 1967 James Bond film.

In a light-hearted break from her interview, the Prime Minister was asked to name her three favourite films, books, flowers and recipes.

Her favourite book is Jane Austen’s romantic novel Pride And Prejudice, followed by Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, about the fight for black civil rights in America, and Dorothy L. Sayers’s The nine Tailors, a murder mystery starring gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey.

When Mrs May cooks for husband Philip, her signature dish is Israeli chef and restaurateur yotam Ottolenghi’s marinated rack of lamb with coriander and honey. She also likes to cook self-styled ‘golden girl of Persian cookery’ Sabrina Ghayour’s spice salted squid from her Persiana cook book. And her third favourite is baked chicken with tarragon and Dijon mustard by the Ulster-born chef and author of Cook Simple, Diana Henry.

But while her taste in food is diverse and modern, her favourite flowers are far more traditional, coming straight from an English country garden, a delightful combination of old English roses, sweet peas and peonies.