THIS isn’t about Nigel, not really. That man needs no encouragement from me. But it is about something Nigel Farage said in an interview – “I don’t listen to music, I don’t watch television, I don’t read.” Now that’s quite a statement, isn’t it?

Much of a longish piece was taken up with trying to make sense of the Ukip leader as a man and as a politician. With 35 days to go until the election, perhaps today would be a good time to pick over his politics. Except that something about that statement refuses to leave my mind. What exactly is Mr Farage saying with those words, thought notable enough for the front of The Observer magazine?

Taken at face value, it sounds like a wretched personal manifesto. Most of us do some or all of those things. I do all three often. Indeed it is hard to imagine life without music, television or books. Was Mr Farage saying that he didn’t like music, books and television, or just that he didn’t have the time? I suspect the former rather than the latter, and it has put me right off the man, not that I was ever a fan.

One of the problems with politics is that it takes up a lot of time. So politicians are often busy people, but busy in the overheated, self-regarding greenhouse of politics. In this they are isolated from the rest of us, and can’t see a lot anyway as the windows do steam up so.

Sometimes politicians attempt to touch-up popular culture, but the results can be an embarrassing fumble. Gordon Brown fell face first when he pretended that he liked Arctic Monkeys, while David Cameron’s expression of admiration for The Jam was said to have annoyed the hell out of the band’s founder, Paul Weller.

Surely it is better when our leaders have a bit of what is sometimes called bottom, a bit of something behind them rather than just what’s on show? In his official biography on Gov.UK, the Conservative politician Benjamin Disraeli, who was twice prime minister, is described as a “politician, novelist and bon viveur”, which is a good place to set out from.

A number of our leaders have had other lives. Winston Churchill was a painter, writer and historian. Ted Heath had the following hobbies: music, sailing and hating Margaret Thatcher. As for the Baroness herself, few hobbies seem to warrant a mention. She certainly liked her handbags, and colleagues who faced her wrath were said to have had a “handbagging”. Also, it was said that she liked listening to Bach, so that at least is one over on Mr Farage.

Tony Blair played the guitar, David Cameron is famous for “chillaxing”, playing tennis sometimes and occasionally forgetting one of his offspring in a local pub. Labour leader Ed Miliband appears not to have any hobbies to speak of, aside from hanging around in kitchens.

As for Mr Farage, why should we consider voting for someone who doesn’t read, listen to music or watch television? No reason at all, I’d say, but other opinions are available on different shelves.

PUZZLING FOOTNOTE: Nigel Farage doesn’t read books but he has written one, The Purple Revolution. Usually the best advice to anyone wanting to write is that first they read. Perhaps Nigel decided to skip that stage.

HONEST FOOTNOTE: In the name of fairness, here are some of my everyday pleasures.

TV: The stupendous Wolf Hall, foreign crime dramas with subtitles on BBC4; enjoyable romps such as the Musketeers and Poldark; all sorts of food programmes, with Masterchef being the addiction of the moment; decent documentaries, such as Louis Theroux’s By Reason Of Insanity, and populist documentaries such as 24 Hours In A&E, all for starters; and the news.

Music: Heavens, so much, from classical to rock, world to jazz and many locations in between, by artists too numerous to mention.

Books: Two on the go at present: a re-reading of Flaubert’s Parrot by Julian Barnes and the latest Jo Nesbo, Blood On Snow. Favourite recent read: H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald.