Fewer than one-in-four people (22%) have faith that any of the 145 female MPs serving in the House of Commons could ever become Prime Minister, according to a new poll.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper topped the list with just 7% choosing her as the next female Prime Minister, followed by her Tory counterpart Theresa May with 6%. While Labour MPs Diane Abbott, Margaret Beckett, and Margaret Hodge, plus Conservative MP Louise Mensch, all trailed behind with 1% each.

Only one in 10 feel the next head of government will be a woman, while barely a third (38%) think there will be a female PM in the next decade, despite eight times as many women serving in parliament today as there were when Thatcher came to power in 1979.

The survey of over 1,700 adults was commissioned to mark the DVD and Blu-ray release of The Iron Lady, the biographical film based on the life of Baroness Thatcher.

Half of those questioned feel Britain has got worse under current PM David Cameron compared to the Thatcher years (1979 to 1990), with just 22% feeling the country has improved.

Baroness Thatcher's reputation for sticking to her convictions remains strong, with just 3% of respondents believing Mr Cameron stands up for what he believes in more than she did.

• Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper

• Home Secretary Theresa May

• Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman

• Labour MP Diane Abbott

• Conservative MP Louise Mensch

• Labour MP Margaret Beckett

• Labour MP Margaret Hodge

• Meryl Streep... Oh no hang on...

The Iron Lady is out on Blu-ray and DVD on April 30 from Pathe Productions Ltd