Why being liberal will make you drink more: Americans living in Democrat states are more likely to binge on spirits and beer

• US researchers found that politicians voting liberal increased drinking
• As congressmen and women backed the Democrats, people in the states they represented started drinking more
• Same could be true for UK where most problem drinking happens in traditional Labour stronghold of the North
  

By CHRIS PLEASANCE

Published: 05:44 EST, 18 January 2014 | Updated: 12:48 EST, 18 January 2014

A study has shown that as congressmen and women in the US voted Democrat, the people in the states they represented drank more alcohol

Politicians voting liberal can cause people to drink more, a new study has suggested. 

Researchers in the US found that as congressmen and women voted Democrat, the people living in their states began to drink more - specifically beer and spirits.

Possible explanations include the fact that liberals are more likely to rebel through drinking, sex, and drugs, to the belief that public healthcare - such as Obamacare - and social systems are more likely to pick up the pieces if their drinking becomes a problem.

Economists behind the study examined all 50 states from 1952 to 2010 and found that the results agreed with previous research showing that socialists in Russia were more likely to drink than their more conservative counterparts.

Researchers estimate that if the congressional representatives for Michigan - just over half of whom are Democrats - became as liberal as Vermont - where two thirds voted for Barack Obama - the population could be expected to guzzle an extra two gallons of beer per year.

Dr Pavel Yakovlev, a professor of economics at Duquesne University, in Pittsburg, added that the numbers were adjusted for economic, demographic and religious differences.

A separate study of consumer habits by Hunch.com found that liberals were 28 per cent more likely to drink both beer and wine compared with conservatives who favoured milk and fizzy drinks.

Another study published in Psychology Science also showed that when both liberals and conservatives did drink, Democrats were more likely to favour new, cheap brands of beer compared with conservatives who preferred pricier and more established names.

Despite his ale-swilling image, data suggests that right-wing voters in the UK - such as UKIP party leader Nigel Farage - are less likely to drink than their more liberal counterparts

For UK drinkers the same could be true, as 2013 data from the Lifestyle Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre showed that most problem drinking occurred in the North, traditionally a Labour stomping ground.

Men in the North East were the heaviest drinkers, with 68 per cent regularly exceeding their daily limit, while those in London - where the Tories attract more votes - were less likely to over-indulge.