Nigel Farage claims David Cameron is using hair dye to 'reverse the ageing process'

Sources close to the PM have previously denied that he dyes his hair

David Cameron (Getty Images)

David Cameron is using hair dye to “reverse the ageing process”, Nigel Farage has claimed.

Speaking on a visit to Dudley in the West Midlands the Ukip leader said he had shaken hands with the prime minister after the 7-way leaders debate last Thursday.

“I was very polite and complimented him on his appearance,” he told the crowd at the Ukip event. “Any man who can reverse the greying process I’m jealous of.”

A Conservative spokesperson declined to comment on Mr Farage’s suggestion.

Nigel Farage on a visit to Dudley (PA)

In 2011, after speculation that Mr Cameron was then dying his hair, a source close to the prime minister told the Daily Mail newspaper: “I promise you he has not dyed his hair”.

A year before in 2011 Mr Cameron had commented that he “had a few grey hairs” and that their appearance on his head was “a relentless process”.

In 2002, then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder took a news agency to court after it suggested he dyed his hair.

Despite popular belief the link between a high stress job – like being prime minister – and going grey is uncertain, according to the NHS Choices website, which advises on health issues.

Rather, most prime ministers probably tend to go grey in office simply because most of them are middle-age men when they are elected.