Charles Kennedy has rejected suggestions he drinks too much as typical of rumours from the "Westminster hothouse".

The Liberal Democrat leader was pushed on the issue by the BBC's Jeremy Paxman during an interview with Newsnight.

It matters if people allow that kind of rumour or allegation or slur to achieve a level of prominence

Charles Kennedy

Mr Paxman told Mr Kennedy that every politician his programme had spoken to in preparing for the interview had said: "You're interviewing Charles Kennedy - I hope he's sober."

The Lib Dem leader dismissed the comments as the "kind of thing that goes around the hothouse of Westminster".

"It matters if people allow that kind of rumour or allegation or slur to achieve a level of prominence that it doesn't otherwise require," he said.

Wedding bells

Told that MPs from his own party were among those contacted by Newsnight, Mr Kennedy pointed out that he had just been re-elected unanimously as leader by Lib Dem members.

He said he drank "moderately and socially".

Mr Kennedy is shortly to wed

Mr Paxman asked if he drank privately "by yourself, a bottle of whisky late at night".

"No I do not," Mr Kennedy replied.

During the wide-ranging interview the Lib Dem leader was also quizzed on his forthcoming marriage to Sarah Gurling.

He was asked: "Many people in this day and age decide not to do that but you are making a very public statement in deciding to get married?"

Public statement

Mr Kennedy said: "Yes and so is Sarah making a very public statement which in a way rather comes back to your last rather more personal set of questions.

"Anybody who knows Sarah Gurling knows that she's also an extremely serious-minded, career orientated person in her own right.

"She would not enter into something like this unless there was a fundament of seriousness about us and about our relationship."

Asked whether Ms Gurling kept him on the straight and narrow he said: "I suspect you should answer that rather than me I suspect she rather does."