Chris French, 47, owner of The Mitre pub in Richmond (Image: PA)
“That got me thinking, how do you get out to people, and then about 12 months ago, I stumbled across that if I actually registered to run in the election, I would actually get the free advertising on 77,000 ballot papers.”
Mr French, who has owned The Mitre for more than eight years, would be happy with a small number of votes and is not optimistic about his chances of unseating sitting MP Sarah Olney of the Liberal Democrats.
“I’ll be voting for myself so at least then I definitely get one vote,” he said.
“Now whether Gillian (Craigie) my partner votes for me, I’m not too sure. If I only get one vote, it might be quite a frosty evening.
The Mitre, Richmond (Image: PA)
"Hopefully I’ll get two votes.”
Asked about the hypothetical contents of his pub’s manifesto, Mr French laughed.
“I don’t know.
"Maybe close all the other pubs down in Richmond.
"Cut beer duty on The Mitre to maybe one pence and put everybody else up to 50 pence,” he joked.
Mr French said he would be “absolutely chuffed” if he got at least 5 per cent of the vote, as this would mean the £500 deposit candidates are required to pay would be returned to him.
“It’s a small business and £500 is a lot of money,” he said.
The Mitre, Richmond (Image: PA)
If elected, he would celebrate with an alcohol-free shandy, he added, as he stopped drinking alcohol three years ago.
The pub staff “probably rolled their eyes” at “another crazy idea” from him, he said, adding that Ms Craigie was “100 per cent behind it”.
He said: “She hears some crazy things from me all the time, so it was probably just another one of those hare-brained ideas that I’ve had.”
Local people have started asking Mr French about his plans for the General Election as word has got out that he is standing.
“People are slowly starting to find out and they love it.
"It’s only been positive.
"They love the idea.
"There’s not been a single word of negativity about it,” he said.
Ultimately, Mr French wants to grow his business, saying: “If it gets an extra two people in, I’m happy.
“It’s so hard these days to get people through the door.
"Maybe just doing something that’s completely out there like this is the one thing that might get me an extra two people in through the door.”
The publican said he is not political and does not typically vote, with his interests lying more in “music and football”.
“I’m not political and I don’t want to start treading on people’s toes because at the end of the day, I’m just a publican with a crazy idea to advertise his pub,” he said.
“I don’t think I’d be very popular with the other local politicians if the people voted in a pub landlord over a politician.”
Asked whether he was encouraging people to vote for him on July 4, he said: “I’d rather them come down and start spending some money in the pub than vote for me to be honest.”
PA has contacted Sarah Olney for comment.