Sir Michael Caine to vote Tory

Sir Michael became famous for his roles in films like Zulu and Alfie

Oscar-winning actor Sir Michael Caine will vote for the Conservatives in the next general election.

Having supported the party in the 1980s, he was won over by Tony Blair's New Labour in 1997.

But Sir Michael told the Mail on Sunday that: "I'll probably vote Conservative. I mean, we're in a terrible state whichever way you look at it.

"I don't know what Cameron's going to do, but in the end you... just have to have someone new and see what happens."

Sir Michael said that the UK needed a change in its leadership, having been governed by Labour for 12 years.

'Getting more violent'

"I voted for Maggie Thatcher because I thought we needed a change from that long period of socialism; I voted for Tony Blair because we had a great long period of Conservatism. The thing now is to vote for Cameron."

His latest film, Harry Brown, is about inner city violence which he says influenced his decision to switch his political allegiance.

"It's a big problem. The country is getting more and more violent and this film is a wake-up call, a warning to us all."

The Italian Job star said that there should be more emphasis on providing education for violent youths who live in city housing estates.

"They don't need to learn Shakespeare; they need to read and write and count, so make sure of that. But we need to bring back the old technical colleges where you went to learn how to be an electrician, a plasterer, a carpenter."

Earlier this year, Sir Michael criticised the government's plans to raise top-level tax to 50%, warning that he would leave the UK to live in the US, as he did in the 1970s and 1980s, if taxation was increased any more.