text: George Osborne has revealed he is secretly addicted to hit BBC series Poldark – and confessed to a crush on its female lead character Demelza. The Chancellor claimed the 'one hour' a week he had allowed himself off each week during the election campaign was to watch the programme, starring Aidan Turner and Eleanor Tomlinson. He vowed to maintain tax relief on big TV productions which have encouraged the makers of Poldark and other series to choose the UK. Scroll down for video . Mr Osborne admitted that he was secretly addicted to hit BBC series Poldark, starring Aidan Turner . The Chancellor said the television show was a 'fantastic advert for Britain' and particularly Cornwall . 'I haven't seen the original series from the 70s, so it's all new. It's a fantastic advert for Britain and British talent – and also for Cornwall,' the Chancellor told the Daily Mail. 'I am sure many visitors will flock to Cornwall from around the world when they see these wonderful scenes of Poldark riding along the cliffs. 'It has been the one hour off during the whole of this campaign. I keep my 9pm on a Sunday clear for that. It's fantastic. It's the very best of British television.' Asked whether he was was on 'team Demelza' or 'team Elizabeth', the Chancellor confessed: 'I'm bit of a Demelza fan, it has to be said.' Mr Osborne confessed to a crush on its female lead character Demelza, played by Eleanor Tomlinson . Mr Osborne said he was 'delighted' that the series had been shot in Britain. 'Frankly, under the tax regime I inherited a production like this would have gone somewhere else in Europe, like Ireland or on the Continent,' he said. 'I said I wanted the best TV done in this country. It's about creating jobs. I think this series is going to run and run.' It is understood that tax credits introduced by the Treasury to encourage programme-makers to choose the UK has been worth more than £2 million to Mammoth Screen, the production company behind Poldark. Sources close to the company say that without the incentive, it would have been filmed in Ireland. Instead, it is going back to Cornwall for a second series. Poldark has attracted as many as seven million viewers, helping BBC1 to its highest ratings share for the first quarter of the year in a decade.
target: Chancellor said show was a 'fantastic advert for Britain and British talent'
  He confessed to having a crush on its female lead character Demelza .
  Vowed to maintain tax relief on big TV productions which have encouraged the makers of Poldark and other series to choose the UK .