“I always retreat to cooking the Sunday roast.”

Andrea Leadsom, who could be Britain’s next Prime Minister, is nothing if not practical.

In times of strife – and it’s impossible not to see the current convulsions in British politics as such - she finds comfort in the familiar routines of family life.

“When in doubt, cook a Sunday roast, get the family around you and you’ll feel fine afterwards,” she says.

“If my boys are there, it’s beef and Yorkshire pudding. If it’s me and my daughter and husband, it’s more likely to be chicken - but when she was younger my daughter used to say her favourite vegetable was crackling.”