If only the female vote counted, who would be the sexiest woman over forty?

Madonna, 47, wins this enviable honor according to the results of a survey of 2,000 women-over-forty in the U.K. She beat out Elle Macpherson and Liz Hurley, not to mention dozens of other over 40 celebrity beauties.

And 53 percent of the women over 40 who participated in this survey believe that 'sensible dieting and a clever hairstyle and make-up can achieve just as much as a TV cosmetic surgery makeover' but 14 per cent say they will 'definitely' go under the knife and 25 per cent 'probably'. Over one-in-ten (11 per cent) already have.