Keeping up with Hornby and Blair

Just what is it about north London - and Camden and Islington in particular - that makes its menfolk so keen on Viagra? It may be one of the wealthier areas and home of the chattering classes, but until now there has never been an obvious connection between the liberal intelligentsia and rampant sex.

1. It's the home of Arsenal football club. What with winning the double all the time, the team's supporters have usually got something to celebrate. Maybe they find the double a bit of a strain these days (and as for Arsenal's record of scoring 40 times in a row...)

2. Who is north London's writer in residence? Nick Hornby, of course. And what are his books all about? Sex, of course. Sex and football, sex and records, sex and the single parent. Like their literary hero, north Londoners are not as young as they used to be.

3. Hampstead: it's very hilly. Getting up and down those slopes can be rather hard work, and a chap needs all the help he can get (particularly with the getting up bit).

4. If Nick Hornby is the literary patron saint of north London, former Islington resident Tony Blair is its political hero. The famously potent Prime Minister clearly has no need of Viagra but lesser men might need a helping hand.

5. North London has another famous football team, albeit one with a poorer track record. Tottenham Hotspur have not managed to lift a trophy in years: maybe it's been a long time since its fans have managed it either.

6. Think of north London and you think of earnest, politically correct dinner parties where the Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon flows as they discuss the Booker Prize shortlist and the Guardian editorial. Later that night, they find they've had one too many glasses of red and quick darling, where's the Viagra?