If there’s one thing that’ll get me to do something, it’s the promise of free beer. I’ll tidy my room for a free beer. I’ll cut your hair for a free beer. I might even stop farting at my desk for a free beer. Free beer makes me do stuff, basically (like shout and cry, etc.).
Anyway, a scheme has been set up by pub-owner Joby Andrews, who says: “I wasn’t engaged as a youngster and wasted my vote for years, but the current political climate has motivated me to start voting. There was only a 30% turnout in the recent mayoral elections in Bristol, and as a result the winning candidate won with only 10% of the vote.
“As I run a pub, I thought, let’s encourage them to vote by giving them a pint of beer. That, and with the referendum being such a close call, it’s become clear to me that it’s important for people to vote.”
“Hopefully, if people are registered, they’ll then go down to the polling station on 8 June.”
Seeing as it’s illegal to reward people for voting, he’s going the ‘rewarding people for registering to vote’ route instead. Nice swerve, there, Joby.
Unfortunately, there is one catch – you can only knock back a free pint if you hadn’t already registered to vote before the General Election was announced on 18 April. Still, that’s lots of you, isn’t it? At least do it for a free beer, come on.
Here’s a handy list of all the pubs that are participating:
- The Lazy Dog, 112 Ashley Down Road, Bristol BS7 9JR
- The Pipe and Slippers, 118 Cheltenham road, Bristol BS6 5RW
- The Windmill, 14 Windmill Hill, Bristol BS3 4LU
- The Plough, 223 Easton Rd, Bristol BS5 0EG
- The Holman Clavel Inn, Culmhead, Taunton TA3 7EA
- Red Lion, 206 Whitehall Rd BS5, Bristol BS5 9BP
- The Beast of Brixton, 89B Acre Ln, Brixton, London SW2 5TN
- The Love Inn, 84 Stokes Croft, Bristol BS1 3QY
- Spit and Sawdust, 21 Bartholomew St, London SE1 4AL
- The Shakespeare, 1 Henry street, Totterdown, bristol, BS3 4UD
- Golden Lion, Fielden square, Todmorden, OL146LZ
- Biblos Calypso Kitchen, Unit 3, Gaol Ferry Steps, Wapping Wharf, Bristol BS1 6WE
- King William, 36 Thomas Street, London Road, Bath BA1 5NN
- The Queens Head, 15 Denman Street, London W1D 7HN
- The Bank Tavern, 8 John St, Bristol, BS1 2HR
- The Grosvenor Arms, 204 Garrett Lane, SW 18 4 ED
- The Feather Star Ale House, 15 St Johns Street, Wirksworth, Matlock DE4 4DR
- The Raven, 7 Queen Street, Bath, BA1 1HE
- Stroud Brewery Bar, Unit 11, Off Hope Mill Lane, Phoenix Works, London Rd, Thrupp, Stroud GL5 2BU
- Constellations, 35-39 Greenland Street L1 0BS
- Flipside Cocktail Club, 109 Whiteladies Road Bristol, BS8 2PB
- The Drapers Arms, 447 Gloucester Road Bristol BS8 7TZ
- The Lord Nelson, 9-11 Enfield Road, Brentford, TW8 9NY
- The Inn On The Green, 2 Filton rd, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 0PA
