Tom Cruise & Pierce Brosnan Voted Britain's Housekeepers Of The Millennium

As James Bond prepares to put the world to rights in his latest film premiere this week, Pierce Brosnan and top gun Tom Cruise are two of the men that Britons would most like to do their housework in the Millennium home. Meanwhile, Victoria Adams, Paula Yates and Tracy Shaw were the women least likely to spice up the home - according to a new Alliance & Leicester homeowner survey.

The findings are the latest from Homeowner 2025 - research by Alliance & Leicester which explores how people think home life will change in the early years of the new Millennium. Having already established that most people expect busier lifestyles and that technology will be a driving force for change in the home, A&L asked 1,014 people which male and female celebrity they would most like to have genetically cloned to do their housework in the home of the future . Of those who expressed a preference, the responses were as follows:

Top Male Housekeepers

Eyes wide open to the needs of Millennium Britain, Tom Cruise was the most popular choice celebrity with more than one in five people (22 per cent).

The world is not enough for James Bond. Twelve per cent would like Pierce Brosnan to be as handy with the Hoover as he is with the trusted Walter PPK.

Red devil David Beckham was popular with 11 per cent of homeowners, perhaps following revelations that he does all the housework for Victoria and Brooklyn. If Beckham's away match commitments became too pressing, Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter would be best placed to step in - he was the preferred cleaner for 11 per cent of people.

Des res Des Lynam was only fifth choice (10 per cent), his half time tea-making and in depth analysis making him only marginally more popular than Dale Winton (nine per cent), Jeremy Clarkson (eight per cent) or Mrs Badcrumble's favourite clarinet pupil, Eddie Izzard (nine per cent).

British beef may be in his repertoire of culinary delights, but William Hague flopped as a celebrity housekeeper, finishing bottom of the poll (2 per cent). Twice as many people would choose Prince Philip (five per cent) to help round the home of the future.

Top Female Housekeepers

Fatal attraction: Catherine Zeta Jones may be Michael Douglas's new found friend, but she is also the woman that most Britons want to clean their home (20 per cent). Zeta Jones was a big hit with the men (29 per cent), as was Denise van Outen (20 per cent), whereas women voters preferred the green fingered skills of Charlie Dimmock (23 per cent).

Newly wed savaged: Whilst BBC's honeymooned Zoe Ball was the third most popular choice for teenagers , overall she finished in sixth place (11 per cent), behind Lily Savage (12 per cent).

Home Alone: At a time when many peers have found their home under attack, Baroness Thatcher was the top choice female cleaner for seven per cent.

The iron lady proved more popular around the home than Posh Spice (six per cent), Jo Brand (six per cent) and Tracy Shaw (three per cent). Paula Yates finished bottom of the poll (two per cent).

The Alliance & Leicester research also reveals some of the domestic chores that these celebrity cloned cleaners could expect to undertake. Asked which domestic chore homeowners would most like technology to do for them in the future:

• Ironing topped the list (31 per cent) - a particular hate for women (38 per cent to 23 per cent of men).
• Cleaning windows (15 per cent overall) is obviously unpopular with the elderly - more than one in four over 65 year olds cited this as their least favourite chore.
• Weeding (10 per cent), food shopping (nine per cent), cooking (eight per cent) and vacuum cleaning (six per cent) featured in the middle of the hate list.
• Washing the car seems set to continue as a manual chore in the Millennium. This was the least disliked chore (three per cent), although it was five times more unpopular with men than women (five per cent to one per cent).

Technical details

The Alliance & Leicester survey was undertaken by MORI among a GB representative sample of 1,014 people, between 16 and 22 September 1999..