Hill spent four weeks at number one

But David Cameron has revealed his childhood musical hero is none other than saucy old-school comic Benny Hill.

Mr Cameron said the comedian's 1971 chart-topper Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) is the only song he knows all the words to.

The Conservative leader tells Desert Island Discs, to be aired on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday: "This really just reminds me of my childhood."

Benny Hill isn't even celebrated ironically these days - The story behind Cameron's favourite song

Hill's tale of a lovelorn milkman is a far cry from Mr Cameron's reported enthusiasm for fashionable indie bands such as The Killers, and others such as The Smiths.

But the Tory leader explains to presenter Sue Lawley: "When you are asked to sing a song, this is, I'm afraid, the only song whose words I can remember."

Just to prove the point, Mr Cameron even joins in with the opening lines "You could hear the hoof beats pound, as they raced across the ground".

The song - which spent four weeks at number one - tells of Ernie's love for Sue ("They said she was too good for him, She was haughty, proud and chic, But Ernie got his cocoa there, Three times every week").

And his departure for the "milkround in the sky" after a battle with love rival "two ton Ted from Teddington".

But even Mr Cameron - who is known for his ability to memorise political speeches - may struggle to recall Hill's epic in its entirety, as he claims. The song runs to more than 600 words.