{"id":553650,"date":"2026-04-27T17:46:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/553650\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T17:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:46:19","slug":"hannah-spencer-riles-fellow-mps-with-attack-on-parliaments-drinking-culture-hannah-spencer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/553650\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannah Spencer riles fellow MPs with attack on parliament\u2019s drinking culture | Hannah Spencer"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Hannah Spencer<\/a> spoke of her shock that in Westminster \u201cyou can smell the alcohol when people are in between votes\u201d, she may not have expected such a lively response.<\/p>\n

The Green party MP, who won the Gorton and Denton byelection in February, made the comments in an interview with the Joe website<\/a>, saying she was \u201creally uneasy\u201d about the drinking culture in parliament.<\/p>\n

She added that there had been cases of \u201cquestionable and dangerous behaviour\u201d by staff and potentially some MPs because of the \u201cunprofessional\u201d culture of drinking.<\/p>\n

After Spencer\u2019s interview was published, a social media storm in a pint glass ensued, with some other parliamentarians quick to criticise her comments. Nigel Farage<\/a>, who is often seen with a pint in his hand, was one of the first to jump in. The Reform UK leader said: \u201cThe Greens are happy to legalise heroin and crack, but now we learn they think an afternoon pint is a step too far.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Green party leader, Zack Polanski<\/a>, defended his colleague, writing on X: \u201cOf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others noted that Spencer did not appear to be suggesting that MPs should start taking heroin in the Commons.<\/p>\n

Spencer told the Guardian: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s much to ask for an MP to be sober when they vote on decisions that affect everyone else. I\u2019d have been sacked at work if I did this, same goes for almost every profession, but especially working-class jobs. MPs defending this and lecturing me are the exact reason I\u2019ve been saying this place is full of people who are out of touch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said the Greens were happy to legalise heroin and crack but \u2018think an afternoon pint is a step too far\u2019. Photograph: Kevin Coombs\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The drinking culture in Westminster has been much-criticised and parliament\u2019s Strangers bar closed temporarily last year after an alleged spiking incident. Security measures were tightened and visitors and parliamentary staff can visit only with an MP present. Strangers is one of several subsidised bars where MPs can often be found between votes.<\/p>\n

Natalie Fleet, Labour MP for Bolsover, said that while \u201cworking in a palace is mad\u201d, the smell of \u201cfags and beer\u201d was one of the things \u201cthat make it seem [a] tiny bit normal\u201d.<\/p>\n

Luke Charters, Labour\u2019s MP for York Outer, said: \u201cBreaking news: MPs are human and sometimes have a drink. MPs work long days for constituents, and yes, sometimes share a drink in the evening with colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour MP Emily Thornberry said the drinking culture in parliament was not as bad as it was when she became an MP. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt\/PA<\/p>\n

There was some sympathy for Spencer\u2019s comments. Emily Thornberry<\/a>, MP for Islington South and Finsbury, said she understood the Green MP\u2019s view: \u201cI remember being surprised at the drinking culture when I first arrived. It\u2019s actually much better than it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she added that for some of her colleagues, drinking was a way to cope with the pressure of the job. \u201cI think it\u2019s sad to see some members who are obviously finding it difficult to be away from home for such long periods and who start to develop a habit of drinking to help with their loneliness,\u201d she said. \u201cHannah should think about that. It\u2019s a great honour being an MP, but the hours are long and those who can\u2019t get home each night can find it difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

One 2024 intake Labour MP said she had also been surprised by the attitude to drinking in parliament. \u201cI\u2019ve been asked whether I am pregnant when I choose orange juice instead of wine at events,\u201d she said. \u201cDrinking is so normalised.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the working set-up in parliament was unhealthy and she was often waiting for hours between votes, adding: \u201cI don\u2019t really drink, but I send emails until 10pm, and that\u2019s not healthy either is it? Some people go and drink, maybe they go to the tea room and eat too much, I send too many emails! We need to talk about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She suggested that electronic voting for late votes might help.<\/p>\n

Labour MP Alex Sobel agreed, saying: \u201cI also think late votes and how we vote are the issue. I\u2019ve never actually seen anyone smell of booze in the lobby so I don\u2019t recognise what Hannah is saying about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parliament has a number of bars as well as several dining rooms that serve alcohol. Photograph: Mark Kerrison\/In Pictures\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Other opposition MPs have leapt to Spencer\u2019s defence. Alliance party MP Sorcha Eastwood said: \u201cCan\u2019t get my head around this, I worked in Tesco, manufacturing, the health service and construction \u2013 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 workers? And it\u2019s OK for us to drink during work?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson, said he occasionally had pints on the parliamentary estate after voting. \u201cI try not to judge people,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen the house sits late I tend to go to the library \u2013 it\u2019s a useful time to get things done. Having said that, I will go for a pint with an old school friend after votes tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, a parliamentary watchdog, has said the drinking culture in Westminster was a \u201cfrequent factor\u201d fuelling inappropriate behaviour. It said a theme in its investigations were parliament\u2019s numerous bars, where alcohol consumption was \u201cleading to intimidating behaviour like shouting and swearing\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Woolsack, another bar frequented by parliamentary staff, had a rebrand after becoming notorious for brawls and misconduct scandals. There is also a bar in the House of Lords<\/a> cafeteria as well as several dining rooms that serve alcohol.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Hannah Spencer spoke of her shock that in Westminster \u201cyou can smell the alcohol when people are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-553650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}