Nigel Farage will not be swilling pints on the campaign this month, as he has temporarily given up drinking.
The Ukip leader is regularly pictured in the pub with a glass of ale but he will now be having a dry January in common with thousands of others who have made New Year resolutions to give up the booze.
He told Sky News’s Murnaghan programme: “I started before the new year. I’m not being particularly virtuous, it’s just I need a break. It does us all good to have a break now and then.”
Farage’s frequent pints while campaigning have been credited with adding to his image as a politician who is more approachable than a typical party leader.
However, his reputation for being a bon viveur will not entirely be undermined by the booze ban as he has not given up smoking as well.
Farage may get some support in his alcohol-free challenge. Mark Reckless, the new Ukip MP for Rochester, is a non-drinker, having given up after being too inebriated to vote when he was still a Conservative in 2010.
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