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Self-confessed ‘Coke addict’ PM resists temptation at Northern Ireland bottling plant

The Northern Ireland Protocol is not the only problem Rishi Sunak says he has overcome this week, boasting he has almost kicked his Coca-Cola addiction at a bottling plant in Co Antrim this afternoon.

Surrounded by fridges filled with the fizzy drink, the self-confessed “Coke addict” told business leaders he resisted the temptation, sticking to his one-Coke-a-week limit.

The prime minister joked he was in his “happy place” as he spoke flanked by two towers of cola cans.

“It’s great to be here, I’m very much in my happy place,” he said.

“I have somehow resisted having any Coke so far, although the fridges are everywhere. I have resisted thus far, but I might treat myself to one on the way out.”

He added: “Putting aside that I love it, and actually the secretary of state is also a massive fan of the Coca-Cola Company, so we have that in common.”

The prime minister said the Coke plant was an example of a business that will benefit from the dual market access enshrined in the Windsor Framework.

Mr Sunak previously revealed his enthusiasm for Coca-Cola left him with seven fillings.

In footage that has resurfaced a number of times over the past couple of years, Mr Sunak told two schoolboys he was a “total Coke addict” and preferred Mexican Coke because it is made with “cane sugar rather than high fructose corn syrup”.

Asked if he preferred Coke or Pepsi, he said: “One of those things that not many people know about me, so I collect Coca-Cola things already. 

“I’m a Coke addict. Total Coke addict.”

Quickly realising his gaffe, he added: “Coca-Cola addict, just for the record, just to be totally clear.”