Dame Judi Dench has said she would like to meet Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, describing him as “a man of such authority”.

The veteran actress appeared on That Gaby Roslin Podcast with her daughter, Finty Williams, also an actress.

Asked which famous figure she would like to meet in person, the 85-year-old replied: “I would like to meet Keir Starmer.

“I know nothing at all except seeing him on television, but you know he is a man of such authority. I would like to meet him.”

Dame Judi also recalled meeting Hollywood star Morgan Freeman at a Four Seasons hotel.

She said: “He came and knelt down once. We were having a drink at the Four Seasons and he came and knelt down and said hello to us.

“He was there with three ladies and we introduced you (Williams) and my agent, Tor. He said ‘How do you do?’. He said ‘And these are my wives’.”

Laughing, Williams added: “He did. He was so beautiful.”

Dame Judi and her daughter shared a stage for the first time in James Graham’s 2015 play The Vote, playing a mother and daughter going to cast their ballots on election day.

The play, which ran at London’s Donmar Warehouse for two weeks, is set in a fictional London polling station in the last hour-and-a-half before polls close.

– That Gaby Roslin Podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. Episodes are weekly, released every Monday.