South London pub registered as a political party by owner for 2024 general election

A south London publican, who has registered his pub as a political party and is running as a sole candidate for the bar in the general election, said he would “definitely get a vote” – from himself.

Richmond pub owner Chris French, 47, had a brainwave 12 months ago and decided to stand as MP for Richmond Park in Greater London to get publicity for his establishment.

He told the PA news agency: “Our little pub we have in Richmond is a great pub and we hear all the time, ‘I’ve lived in Richmond for 20 years and I didn’t even know this pub existed. ‘.

Chris French, 47, owner of The Miter pub in Richmond (Image: PA)

“That got me thinking, how do you meet them with people, and then about 12 months ago it hit me that if I actually registered to stand for election, I’d get free advertising on 77,000 ballot papers.”

Mr French, who has held The Miter for more than eight years, is said to be content with a small number of votes and is not optimistic about his chances of unseating Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney.

“I’ll vote for myself, so at least then I’ll definitely get a vote,” he said.

“Now if Gillian (Craigie) my partner votes for me, I’m not too sure. If I get just one vote, it could be a pretty frosty night.

The Miter, Richmond (Image: PA)

“Hopefully I’ll get two votes.”

Asked about the hypothetical contents of his pub manifesto, Mr French laughed.

“I do not know.

“It can shut down all the other pubs in Richmond.

“Reduce beer tax on The Miter to maybe a pence and put everyone else up to 50p,” he joked.

Mr French said he would be “absolutely gutted” if he got at least 5% of the vote, as it would mean the £500 deposit candidates have to pay would be returned to him.

“It’s a small business and £500 is a lot of money,” he said.

The Miter, Richmond (Image: PA)

If elected, he would celebrate with a non-alcoholic shandy, he added, as he stopped drinking alcohol three years ago.

Pub staff “probably rolled their eyes” at “another crazy idea” from him, he said, adding that Ms Craigie was “100 per cent behind it”.

He said: “She hears crazy things from me all the time, so it was probably just another one of those crazy ideas I had.”

Locals began questioning Mr French about his plans for the general election as word got out that he was standing.

“People are slowly starting to find out and they like it.

“It was only positive.

“They like the idea.

“There wasn’t one negative word about it,” he said.

Ultimately, Mr French wants to grow his business, saying: “If I get two more people, I’m happy.

“It’s so hard these days to get people through the door.

“Maybe just doing something that’s completely out there like this is the only thing that could get two more people through my door.”

The publican said he is not political and does not usually vote, his interests being more in “music and football”.

“I’m not political and I don’t want to start stepping on people’s toes because at the end of the day I’m just a publican with a crazy idea to advertise his pub,” he said.

“I don’t think I’d be very popular with other local politicians if people voted in a pub landlord over a politician.”

Asked if he was encouraging people to vote for him on July 4, he said: “I’d rather they come and start spending some money in the pub than vote for me, to be honest.”

PA has reached out to Sarah Olney for comment.