Lincoln takes the lead in Baftas field

Daniel Day-Lewis is nominated for Best Actor award for his performance as the US president who led his country through the civil war and ended slavery.

The film picked up 10 nominations, with nine each for Les Misérables and Life Of Pi.

Bardem’s performance as Bond villain Raoul Silva in Skyfall has been recognised with a nomination for Supporting Actor along with Day-Lewis’ Lincoln co-star Tommy Lee Jones, Alan Arkin, Christoph Waltz and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

His Bond co-star, Dame Judi Dench, is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as spy master M in the same film, which has eight nominations.

She faces competition from Anne Hathaway who is nominated for her role in the big screen version of Les Misérables.

Also nominated are Amy Adams for The Master, Helen Hunt for The Sessions and another of Lincoln’s stars – Sally Field who plays the president’s wife.

Dame Helen Mirren is nominated in the Best Actress category for her role in Hitchcock – playing the wife of the filmmaker. She is joined on the shortlist by Amour star Emmanuelle Riva, Jennifer Lawrence who is recognised for Silver Linings Playbook, Rust and Bone’s Marion Cotillard and Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty.

Day-Lewis’ Best Actor nomination sees him up against Ben Affleck and Hathaway’s co-star Hugh Jackman.

The shortlist is completed by Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook and Joaquin Phoenix for The Master.

Affleck could walk away with two of the biggest prizes after he was also nominated for Best Director for his work on Argo - a thriller set during the Iran hostage crisis.

Quentin Tarantino is nominated for Best Director and Original Screenplay for his western Django Unchained.