David Cameron has described himself as "optimistic and fun" as he made a pitch to win over women voters.

The Prime Minister gave a glimpse into his taste in clothes, the perfect night in, and cooking habits in an interview with Woman & Home magazine.

He also revealed that he prefers his Oxfordshire constituency home to his grace-and-favour residences at Downing Street and Chequers.

Asked how his friends viewed him, Mr Cameron said: "I hope they'd say I'm optimistic, I enjoy life and that I'm fun.

"But also that I'm quite driven in doing what I believe in. I really profoundly believe in this job and what I'm doing but I try to keep a balance because although this job is a complete passion, at the same time it's my judgment that matters so I've got to keep good balance and pace to make sure I don't get frazzled and fried.

"So I do take breaks: last weekend I did an eight-mile bicycle ride along the Windrush valley in beautiful cold sunshine with Samantha and two of our children.

"That, to me, was a perfect Sunday morning."

The Tory leader - who has been mocked for his fondness for "chillaxing" - said his perfect evening would be preparing dinner and watching television.

"It involves cooking - and eating - then watching a good detective drama on TV, or House Of Cards," he said. "Ideally we'd be at our house in Oxfordshire, which feels more and more like home."

"I love cooking; it's a very good way to get your mind off things. Yesterday I made roast chicken and all the trimmings, and my signature dish is probably something slow-cooked - like belly of pork or shoulder of lamb.

"I'm also an obsessive barbecuer; one of the most exciting moments of the year for me is when the cover comes off the barbecue!"

Asked if it was true that "behind every man there is a great woman", Mr Cameron said: "It certainly is for me.

"I'm very lucky because Samantha is amazing, she truly is the empress of multitasking, and amazing at doing it all, from overseeing the children's homework, having a business life of her own, doing a lot of charity work, and supporting me as Prime Minister," he said.

Mr Cameron also said he relied on his wife to choose clothes as he was "not interested" in them.

"Samantha has extremely good taste. And I'm not really interested in clothes, mainly I like wearing clothes that don't make me stand out.

"I tend to go for Marks & Spencer and Gap, and I do get put in the changing room at Gap and clothes are passed to me under the changing room door - a bit like feeding time at the zoo!"

Questioned on what he would have done if he had not entered politics, Mr Cameron suggested he could have continued his career as a TV executive at Carlton.

Mr Cameron also praised the "sensible" way his children dealt with their father being the Prime Minister.

"My eldest two know that Daddy is Prime Minister, which means a lot of stuff in the newspapers, but they seem to channel it quite sensibly," he said. "They like their school, they've got lots of friends and they like seeing me as much as possible - at least I hope they do!

"My youngest is only four and it probably hasn't sunk in for her yet. But she has a good school and if we provide stability for them at home, I'm sure they will be OK."

:: The full interview is in the April issue of Woman & Home, which is on sale now.