TONY Blair may be a committed Prime Minister, but his dedication to washing up and Hoovering at home leaves a lot to be desired, according to his wife.

Cherie Blair, speaking at a conference on women and human rights in Australia, said that while more women work than ever before, they still shoulder the burden of housework and child-rearing.

To the amusement of the audience, Mrs Blair said: "I'm always quite astonished when I read surveys about how many hours of housework men are supposed to do because in my experience they don't do any at all."

The dozens of reports into how domestic chores are divided up at home seem to suggest that Mrs. Blair may have a point.

A study, carried out last September by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, found that women were doing twice as much housework as men.

And for some celebrities the chores were far from evenly divided.

n Christine Hamilton, 53, reveals her ex-Tory MP husband, Neil, 53, is more modern man than cave man when it comes to doing the housework.

"Neil does 95 per cent of the washing up and I can't have any complaints about him not doing the housework. He's at home a lot and probably does more than me around the house. He's a very modern man. He can't do everything though. He can't cook or iron - we don't even attempt that. We don't divide the chores or anything we just get on with it.

"You can't really blame Tony Blair for not doing the housework, he has got a war to fight after all."

n Her husband Neil admits he, like the Prime Minister, did very little about the house when he was in politics - but he's now a transformed character.

"When I was an MP and before I was married, I didn't do any housework at all - it would be impossible to have done less," he says.

"When I lost my seat in 1997, I had more time and started to do more around the house. I don't like living in dirt and grime. I like a nice clean house. I do the vacuum cleaning and I'm very meticulous with the tasks I do - perhaps too much so. I also do the manly tasks like sawing logs.

"It's a good excuse not to do other things in the office. I run around the house with a pinny on with a feather duster if you must know! I've always been a new man, with so many women working now it's not a sustainable policy to expect them to do the majority of the chores."

n TV's Groundforce builder Tommy Walsh, 46, lives with his wife Maria, 46, and their three children in Hackney and admits, like Tony Blair, he doesn't do a great deal of the chores around the house.

"I'm not a new man. I try but I'm not particularly good at it. I would rather spend the time redecorating or earning a few extra quid.

"I washed some work clothes a while ago and they actually came out dirtier than when they went in.

"My wife does most of the housework. If we're having a major clean, then I'll help out and clean something like the bathroom.

"When she's away I do try and take up her mantle and do the chores and take the pressure off.

"I will do the cleaning but it's hard to get me off the sofa.

"I do about two hours of housework a week. I'm away a lot of the time or writing books so I've got a good excuse for not doing much.

"There's a famous story of when I was renovating a house and my wife said she wanted a new sink in it. I said, 'Look I've put a nice sink in for you.' She said, 'Are you going to do the washing up then?' The next day I went out and bought a dishwasher.

"But at the end of the day the partnership works and that's what matters."

n Jocasta Innes, 65, is the author of the contemporary guide to housework, Home Time (£16.99, Ebury Press). She lives with her partner, architect Sir Richard McCormac, and is in little doubt that men still have a lot to learn around the home.

"Even when men do something like the washing up, they put everything back in different places. They'll put the washing machine on but they won't put the clothes out to dry.

"When men do something it's a favour and something to be grateful for. Men aren't as bothered as much about living in a mess but women do care - it's programmed into us genetically.

"When the washing has blown off the line I've seen Richard just step over it because he knows I will come along and pick it up."

"I do the majority of the housework - Richard is very busy to be fair to him. He does some of the shopping, if that counts, but men don't shop as intelligently as women.

"My son (author Jason Goodwin, 36) is a lot better around the house. He does more than his wife, who looks after the children.

"We need to teach children at school how to cook and manage a home which would make men a lot more independent when they're older."

n Cleaning guru Aggie McKenzie, 47, is about to co-present a new Channel 4 makeover show, How Clean is Your Home?. She reckons men are no good at housework because their mothers do too much for them when they are kids.

"I think initially boys are spoilt by their mothers and I'm beginning to follow that trend with my sons. I know it's wrong but I can't help it. Then we wonder why they don't do any housework when they're older.

"My husband (Matthew, 39) is very good around the house. It's good to have a division of the chores. I'm the kind of washing machine person and he's the dishwasher person and we both think we've got the better deal.

"The problem of doing this though is standards. Men usually have lower ones than women. It's important before you live with someone to know what their standards are.

"I think it's important though that you have tasks than each of you take on so you share the burden of housework."