A Green MP has complained that she can smell alcohol on other politicians as they go into vote.
Hannah Spencer, who embarrassed Labour in the Gorton & Denton by-election in February, hit out at the ‘unprofessional’ culture in Parliament.
The MP has talked up her status as the first female plumber to become an MP, and again stressed her outsider credentials in an interview with Politics Joe.
The exclusive bars on the Westminster estate, and the taxpayer’s support for them, have long been a controversial issue.
A pint of Carlsberg is currently £5.45 in Strangers’ Bar – the main venue and scene of notorious incidents including fights over the years. That compares to around £7 for a pint of lager in nearby pubs.
Alcohol-free beers have been added to the menus in Parliament, and are cheaper than boozy options.
The exclusive bars on the Westminster estate, and the taxpayer’s support for them, have long been a controversial issue
Hannah Spencer, who embarrassed Labour in the Gorton & Denton by-election in February, hit out at the ‘unprofessional’ culture in Parliament
Some £305,000 was spent in Strangers’ in 2023-24, the most recent year that figures are available. But it made a £56,000 loss, despite having no overheads for renting the premises.
The overall catering operation in the Commons was propped up with £7.4million from the public purse in 2024-25. The House has pointed to irregular hours and the relatively small group of clientele as factors in the costs.
In her interview, Ms Spencer said: ‘I’m really uneasy about – and I noticed this the other day – when you can smell the alcohol when people are in between votes… as everyone’s going in to vote, some people have been drinking.
‘There’s a room where I walked past and I doubled back and looked in because people are just sat having a drink.
‘But again that’s a job. I can’t imagine if a cleaner did that or someone working in a bank – like, had a few drinks and then went back to work smelling of alcohol – that wouldn’t happen.’
She added: ‘I think there’s been so many cases recently of like questionable and dangerous behaviour allegedly from MPs, but staff because this culture of a really unprofessional and worrying setting where people can just drink alcohol… while they are in work.
‘That is what I find very out of touch about that place… the vast majority of us that have come from like backgrounds of normal jobs – that’s not how the world works, so why does it work in somewhere where arguably the most important decisions get made?’
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has previously raised questions about the sale of alcohol on the parliamentary estate.
In an interview in 2023, Daniel Greenberg acknowledged there had been ‘behaviour problems’ linked to drinking, but said it was an issue that MPs were ‘looking at for themselves’.
‘That’s clearly a matter for the House to decide for itself,’ Mr Greenberg said.
‘What I will say is it is one of the things that clearly many MPs are thinking about for themselves.
‘I think the behaviour, I think the attitude to alcohol in the workplace has changed throughout all workplaces.
Ms Spencer said the Commons was where the ‘most important’ decisions get made
‘It is something that MPs are looking at for themselves. Some different people have different views.
‘Have there been problems, behaviour problems that have been linked to alcohol? Of course there have.
‘And therefore it is something that again requires to be kept under review. Individual MPs will obviously will decide what works for them.’
