There’s a pub standing for election and it wants to ban all other pubs in town

A London pub is running in this year’s General Election and the owner has warned of some harsh policies on the horizon if he wins.

The Mitre pub party was launched by Chris French, who runs the bar in St Mary’s Grove, Richmond.

Richmond Park residents might be surprised to see his name on their ballot paper when they rock up to vote today.

But the 47-year-old is vying to become the local MP and will attempt to fend off Lib Dem favourite Sarah Olney.

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If Chris secured the most unlikely of victories, other pubs in the local area might be under threat from his bold plans to ban them.

When he was asked about the hypothetical contents of the The Mitre’s manifesto, Chris laughed and said: ‘I don’t know. Maybe close all the other pubs down in Richmond.

‘Cut beer duty on The Mitre to maybe one pence and put everybody else up to 50 pence.’

By virtue of his party existing, Chris is also gunning to become the leading party in the UK.

Granted, it’s virtually impossible for Chris to get his hands on the keys to 10 Downing Street because he’s only running in one constituency.

In the rare event that the rest of the UK abstains from voting in every single constituency and he wins the seat in Richmond Park to get into parliament, only then would he get the gig.

Not that he actually wants it, of course. Chris has admitted that standing in the election is effectively just a marketing ploy.

‘None of it is political,’ he told Richmond Nub News of his election run.

‘At the end of the day I’ve just come up with a marketing idea that nobody else has ever thought of.

‘It cost £500 (to run as a candidate), which is a deposit that you put down. And if you can get 5% of the votes, of the turnout, you do get your deposit back as well.

‘I need around 3,000 and 4,000 votes probably and then I can get my deposit back.

‘If over the course of the next few weeks 20 people come down (to The Mitre) because of it and they all spend £25…it’s worthwhile.’

He’s not the only weird and whacky candidate running in the 2024 General Election either. Here’s a look at some of the other more unique potential MPs.

The whackiest election candidates

Count Binface is the most well-known figure running this year – and he’s directly doing battle with Rishi Sunak for the Richmond and Northallerton seat in Yorkshire.

He describes himself as ‘an intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from planet sigma IX’.

Dressed in a silver outfit with matching cape and wearing a silver trash can as a helmet, Binface says he wants to make the July 4 election ‘Bindependence Day’ and that he is the ‘sane’ choice for the electorate.

‘That’s right, under the British system I get to stand against prime minister Rishi Sunak, it’s brilliant,’ Binface, aka comedian Jonathan Harvey, said outside parliament where he was mobbed by passers-by asking to have their photograph taken with him.

Binface is now a familiar face – or helmet – at British elections, having stood against two ex-prime ministers.

He ran versus Theresa May in 2017 – albeit then in his former guise as Lord Buckethead – and Boris Johnson in 2019. He also contested the London mayor elections in 2021 and in May this year when he won 24,000 votes.

Taking on Sir Keir Starmer in Holborn and St Pancras is Elmo.

Like Count Binface, Elmo has stood in numerous elections although Bobby Smith, the man in the furry red outfit, is seeking to make an earnest political point and wants to change the law on fathers’ rights.

Elsewhere, the Monster Raving Loony Party and YouTube prankster are also among the candidates who have entered the race.

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