Yahoo News 2019 election night parties: Where to get loose in London after casting your vote
It’s the most wonderful night of the year! If the penultimate Thursday before Christmas – peak office party night – wasn’t set to be raucous enough, now there’s an election to throw into the mix. Santa Swingometer, anyone?
When two cultural events collide, there’s only one solution: embrace them both. Tomorrow night, London is going hard then going home… to watch the results come in on TV. There’s no use sleeping: strong indications of who’s on their way to No 10 are expected by 3am on Friday morning and there are plenty of boozers keeping the BoJo Mojitos and Corbyn cocktails flowing until then.
From pin-the-tail-on-the-manifesto shindigs to how to host your own election night extravaganza, this is your guide to Electionmas 2019.
Merry quizmas
The downside of a December election is all no-politics-at-the-Christmas-party rule goes out of the window. The upside is election night suddenly got a whole lot more fun. Mother’s Ruin in Walthamstow is hosting a politically-charged “gingo” (gin and bingo) night with all donations going to a nearby food bank; sketch group POJJ is putting on an election night comedy special in Loughborough Junction; and Walworth boozer The Tap In has a political pub quiz, magicians (for distraction) and a live interactive Twitter screen among its election night line-up. At Catford Mews’s election shindig, even the drinks are leader-themed. Order yourself a Bojo Mojo or Cointreau Corbyn cocktail and watch the results come in with political party quizzes, beer pong and a polling-day special: pin-the-manifesto-on-the-leader.
Keep calm and karaoke
Some light distraction from the nail-biting: an election night singalong! The Jago in Dalston is putting on political karaoke at its election night screening tomorrow night, while Tower Bridge pub The Raven is accompanying its election-oke session with ukuleles. Expect cheesy anthems from Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ to Taylor Swift’s I Knew You Were Trouble — interpret the lyrics as you will.
All night is all right
The final results are expected to come in at about 5 or 6am and the capital’s pubs are standing to deliver. Copeland Park and Bussey Building in Peckham have promised to stay open until the final result (it’s free entry and food is served all night); The Exhibit in Balham has two-for-one drinks all night and free pizza for anyone dressed as Corbyn or Johnson; and The Lexington in Islington has strong coffee and two-floors of coverage until 5am. At the last election, TV crews from Japan, Germany and the Netherlands crowned theirs the best election night party in town, so expect crowds.
Political parties
The town is set to be painted red, blue and yellow as soon as voting closes, so know where to aim for (and avoid). Hackney Labour activists will be watching the early results come in at The Three Compasses in Dalston, while their Streatham counterparts are heading to Left-wing boozer The White Lion in SW16 after the last few doors have been knocked. The Tories’ main party is hosted by Michael Spencer at Scott’s in Mayfair, packed with top-billing Tories and donors, while Conservative Progress’s knees-up is top-secret: tomorrow night revellers from the activist group are heading to an “exclusive central London location” to watch the results until 3am. There’ll be Brexmas-focused parties too: former Downing Street adviser Chris Lockwood is reportedly hosting a Tory Remainers “wake” with his publisher wife Venetia Butterfield, while Leave-supporting network Brexit Creatives will be hanging out at the Spread Eagle pub in Camden from 7pm. Panellists include Brexit Party candidate Alka Sehgal Cuthbert and political commentator James Heartfield, and Rockingbirds lead singer Alan Tyler is set to perform later on.
Women’s hour(-by-hour)
The Westminster boys’ club anti-party? No boys at all! Comedian Grace Campbell, WAH Nails founder Sharmadean Reid and writer Scarlett Curtis are among hosts at women’s club The Wing’s election night shindig, while Gal-Dem magazine’s election all-nighter is an evening of massages, nail art and mindful colouring in at The Standard hotel in King’s Cross. One way to counter the stress of polling day.
High-stakes drama
An alternative election night pre-party: an experimental election-themed play performed in real-time during the final 90 minutes of polling. The Vote — starring comedians Catherine Tate and Mark Gatiss — kicks off at Aldwych’s Bush House Auditorium at 8.30pm tomorrow evening and is a one-night-only revival of the Bafta-nominated theatrical experiment that went out live on TV during the election in 2015: a show about three clerks in a polling station, with a live-action twist (playwright James Graham will read the exit poll results the minute the play finishes at 10pm). Tickets are currently all sold-out but a limited number are set to be released today.
Go hard and stay at home
Election party NFI? Host your own! A DIY Electionmas has its up-sides: no need to fraternise with the enemy (let’s hope), and close enough to bed for tactical disco naps. Set a dress code — a politically colour-coded traffic light party is one way to make your pals vote wisely — and mix up your polling punch: WKDs for Boris-backers; cranberry-infused cocktails for Labour voters; and lemon slices for the Lib Dems, suggests one Remain-backing mixologist on Twitter. Throw in a continental spirit of your choice for an added Brexit element.
Menu-wise, Jacob Roast-Hogg, Romaine lettuce, and Pasta Corbynara are top Twitter picks this year, and dessert remains the same as at every election: Eton Mess.
As for the games, plan out an hour-by-hour guide: a quick-fire round of Nigel Charades (act as any famous Nigel) is an easy (and naturally short) game to kick-off proceedings; seat sweepstakes is essential (declare a prize to up the drama); exit poll dancing (of some kind) is inevitable; and of course, there’s election bingo. Some suggestions for easy tick-boxes: tired reporter slip-ups, “the keys to Number 10”, helpers running across polling stations, “the people have spoken”, and Jeremy Vine lunging in front of his pie chart.
