Nigel Farage is regularly pictured in the pub with a glass of ale, but the Ukip leader will not be swilling pints on the campaign trail this month as he has temporarily given up drink.
The Ukip leader has vowed to have a dry January in common with thousands of others who have made New Year resolutions to give up alcohol.
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.
But his reputation for being a bon vivant will not entirely be undermined by the booze ban as he will continue to smoke.
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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