under the microscope

Liberal Democrat politician Vince Cable, 72, answers our health quiz

CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?

OH YES, easily. I go to the gym twice a week, and do a lot of cycling and dancing. I also swim. Even in the most gruelling times in the Cabinet during the Coalition government, I always got to my dancing lesson.

GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?

I AIM to, but I don’t always manage it. I major on bananas and fruit juice, but apart from eating raw carrots, I’m not good with vegetables.

EVER DIETED?

I LIKE to keep my weight at around 13½ st, which is about right for my height [just over 6ft]. If I start deviating from that, then instead of having two meals a day, I just have one, skipping dinner and breakfast.

ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?

MY MOTHER lived to her mid 80s, and she’d had bowel cancer when she was young, but made a full recovery. And my father died in his early 70s, as a result of hard work and a difficult life.

WORST ILLNESS OR INJURY?

WHEN working in East Africa in my early 20s, I had a near-death experience. I was sleeping out in the desert and developed a massive inflammation on my elbow. It was most likely a scorpion bite. It caused an infection through my entire body and I was taken to hospital. I was given antibiotics and within a few weeks I made a full recovery.

HAD ANYTHING REMOVED?

ABOUT seven or eight years ago, I had great abdominal pain, and passed out at a dinner party. I was taken to hospital and my appendix was taken out immediately.

ANY VICES?

I’VE ALWAYS had a sweet tooth — my mother worked in Terry’s chocolate factory in York and would bring home what they called ‘the chocolate waste’, which was perfectly edible. So I grew up eating a lot of chocolate. I also like jelly and ice cream — all those things that an adult male shouldn’t be enthusiastic about!

IS SEX IMPORTANT?

YES.

TRIED ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES?

NO. IF someone could demonstrate that it might make a serious difference, I’d give it a go.

EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?

I’VE always had a remarkably positive temperament despite the pressures and tensions of recent years. I think it helps that I’ve been happily married twice. Losing my seat in the election was obviously difficult.

HANGOVER CURE?

I HAVE very little alcohol. The occasional G&T — and I can’t recall being drunk. It probably has something to do with my Nonconformist church background!

SLEEP WELL?

THE only time I had trouble sleeping was when my first wife, Olympia, was dying. She had breast cancer and I was caring for her. She died in 2001.

BIGGEST PHOBIA?

I’M NOT good with heights. One of the most terrifying things I did was abseiling down a church tower for charity about ten years ago.

LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?

NO. I think that’s a vain ambition.

AFTER the Storm, by Vince Cable, is published by Atlantic Books (£18.99).