Former MP assistant seeks to chug a pint in all 650 UK constituencies in campaign to support pubs

Jay Chan, who worked for ex-MP Marco Longhi, is travelling the country downing pints to campaign for pro-pub policies

A former assistant to a Tory MP has embarked on a mission to down a pint in all 650 UK parliamentary constituencies to support British pubs.

Jay Chan, who worked for ex-MP Marco Longhi, has been documenting his journey on X, formerly Twitter, having sunk pints in pubs across 9 constituencies so far.

While building up thousands of followers on the platform, Mr Chan has published a manifesto of measures that he believes would support the pub trade.

It could take Mr Chan years to complete the task of downing a pint in all 650 constituencies (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Many of the plans echo long-standing calls from hospitality bosses and lobby groups.

Mr Chan is calling for the 20 per cent rate of VAT charged on food and drinks in pubs to be scrapped in a bid to incentivise punters to eat and drink out rather than cooking at home and enjoying store-bought drinks.

He also wants local heritage pubs to be supported gaining listed status, a measure championed by former West Midlands metro mayor Andy Street.

And Mr Chan highlighted the plight of pubs such as the Crooked House, which was burned down and demolished last year, calling for action to keep heritage pubs safe by giving those to be listed interim protection as Assets of Community Value (ACV).

“Stop pub-killing policies,” is another one of Mr Chan’s demands, pointing to those that some claim will add strain to the sector such as Sir Keir Starmer’s mooted ban on smoking in pub gardens.

“Poor national and local policies kills pubs, nightlife and high streets,” he said.

And Mr Chan has called on MPs and the government to listen to the pub industry when making policy to “consider the interest of pubs and understand their importance in communities”.

Mr Chan’s pint-downing abilities appear considerable, with videos documenting his journey showing he typically downs a pint in around 10 seconds.

But despite being able to chug drinks quickly, followers have questioned how achievable the goal of downing a pint in all 650 constituencies appears.

One social media user said: “That is some ask. I would say realistically that is going to be about 15-20 years in the making (at an average of 40 pubs a year, factoring in availability for constant travel etc). Plus probably more to add with boundary reviews by time you finish.”

Mr Chan promised to stick to the current boundaries in his mission.

And, despite working for a former Tory MP, Mr Chan has tried to bridge the political divide in his campaign, highlighting pints as having “a magic to unite us regardless of political differences”.