On Sunday 26 April, the Green Party’s Hannah Spencer complained that MPs stank of booze in parliament. This served as a reminder for many of us that MPs are provided with subsidised alcohol at work. For belligerent MPs and journalists, however, Spencer’s comments served as a rallying call to defend their god-given right to drink at work:
A choice for Labour MPs before a big set of elections to go out campaigning on:
“MPs should be able to drink alcohol before voting because they work long days.”
They’re really revealing themselves, aren’t they?
Time to replace Labour.https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp https://t.co/lIxtYGEYvo
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 26, 2026
Binge Britain (for MPs in parliament, anyway)
This is what Spencer had to say on the matter:
“You can smell the alcohol when people are in between votes.”
Green MP Hannah Spencer tells us what Westminster is REALLY like.
The full interview is live on YouTube, and as a podcast here: https://t.co/s4mKAc0xku pic.twitter.com/RcikszDxwQ
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) April 26, 2026
For reference, the parliamentary estate has more bars than some town centres:
Back in 2022 Sophy Ridge reported that there are 6 bars in the Commons and the Lords and 30 in the parliamentary estate
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) April 26, 2026
Booze is also subsidised, as a 2023 petition on 38 degrees highlighted:
Did you know, alcohol for MPs and Lords is subsidised in the Houses of Parliament by taxpayers money. Last year, almost £500,000 was spent on drinks for those working in the parliamentary estate including 46,562 pints of beer and 2,800 bottles of bubbly.
Apparently expecting MPs on £98k salary to stay sober while making huge decisions for the country is now controversial. https://t.co/6lCSiYKh2q
— Jonny Mao (@JonnyMao__) April 26, 2026
While Spencer was talking specifically about MPs drinking at night between votes, it’s important to note these bars don’t magically disappear during the day. If your place of work had a bar with cheap booze, wouldn’t you feel like drinking was essentially encouraged?
Labour MPs together
Getting to the backlash, here’s what Labour MP Luke Charters had to say:
Breaking news: MPs are human and sometimes have a drink.
Classic clickbait farming
MPs work long days for constituents, and yes, sometimes share a drink in the evening with colleagues.
Last week I was scandalously spotted with… an alcohol-free pint or two between votes
But sure, let’s talk about that instead of the Greens’ wacky policies.
Trying to distract us, maybe?
There’s so much to get to here.
- The issue isn’t that they “sometimes have a drink”; the issue is they often have several drinks – something most humans don’t do.
- If he was drinking “alcohol-free” booze, she wasn’t talking about him, and maybe he should pipe down?
- The mention of alcohol-free booze suggests he felt pressured pile on Spencer, but he didn’t want it to look like he’s an alcoholic.
- What would the Greens be distracting from, exactly? The fact that they’re beating Labour in the polls, or the fact that Labour is about to get annihilated in the local elections?
Projected net changes for local elections:
Ref +1,437
Grn +926
Lib +327
Con -627
Lab -1,738
Median estimate via @Moreincommon_, April '26 pic.twitter.com/OFxPMxmoUV
— Stats for Lefties
(@LeftieStats) April 21, 2026
Honestly, it seems like Labour needs a distraction more than anyone, and the backlash to Spencer is it.
Can’t get my head around this, I worked in Tesco, Manufacturing, the Health Service & Construction- guess what? We all worked long hours, mostly on low pay and we had considerable levels of pressure. MPs drinking during work in Parliament? The place we make laws for all the other… https://t.co/XIeYDRYcqY
— Sorcha Eastwood MP (@SorchaEastwood) April 26, 2026
Providing further evidence that Labour MPs felt pressured to pile on, this post from Natalie Fleet barely even makes sense:
Working in a palace is mad. It’s part of job I struggle most with.
Smell of fags&beer at 10pm are one of things that make it seem tiny bit normal
I say that as someone who’s never smoked & got sober to become an MP!
If I ever feel comfortable there, it’s time to leave…
What does this even mean?
I bet they think tweeting that drinking at work makes them sound connected to normal people. Not realising that most regular people know if they were to drink at work it would finish them in the job or end up badly otherwise so wouldn’t dream of it.
— Matthew Fulton (@kingbowski) April 27, 2026
The crack
Many like Nigel Farage made the following point:
The Greens are happy to legalise heroin and crack, but now we learn they think an afternoon pint is a step too far. Make it make sense.
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) April 26, 2026
This is actually pretty straightforward, so we can “make it make sense”.
The Green Party has discussed plans to legalise drugs, with various measures put in place to allow for people to take drugs as safely as possible. This would be an alternative to the status quo, in which drugs are easy to get hold of and serve as a tremendous source of income for criminal enterprise.
Should the Greens legalise drugs, that would not enforce a situation in which it’s legal to shoot up at work. In fact, for most people in the UK, it’s not even okay to drink at work.
This is the point she was making, Nigel.
Does it “make sense”, yet?
And of course Farage misrepresents what Hannah is saying.
“An afternoon pint” is different to drinking on a work day and then going to vote on decisions for millions of people.
I’d explain this to him but he’s been running away from a debate with me for months and months! https://t.co/2hQyixRz1a
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) April 26, 2026
On it
Other furious politicians included Tory MP Ben-Obese-Jecty:
Hannah Spencer hasn’t spoken in Parliament once since her maiden speech six weeks ago.
A woman who claimed she’d already done more than some MPs will do in a year.
She has no idea what “Westminster is really like”, she’s a NPC.
Meanwhile the Green Party want to legalise drugs. https://t.co/KTfiYgAnXM
— Ben Obese-Jecty MP (@BenObeseJecty) April 26, 2026
Because drugs *not* being legal really works in stopping drug abuse, right? Clown https://t.co/ahRlsX0ruA pic.twitter.com/a3Oo5hxXTy
— Mrs Gee
(@earthygirl011) April 26, 2026
The angry backlash from MPs shows why it’s essential to have more people like Spencer in politics. She’ll keep calling things out which seem obvious to the rest of us, and establishment MPs will keep showing their arses in their response.
Featured image via House of Commons
By Willem Moore
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