A local councillor in the U.K. offered free fish and chips if voters back the Brexit Party in two seats in Yorkshire.
David Wood, who sits on Penistone Town Council as an independent, posted the offer on the Facebook page for his takeaway, Woody’s Fish and Chips.
The post, which has since been taken down, read: “Election Promise! Help Woody’s to remove our two current Labour MPs from their seats in Westminster in favour of Jim Feguson [sic] for Barnsley East and Victoria Felton for Barnsley Central. Our promise to the electorate of Barnsley is to offer free Cod Bits & Chips to everyone that visits our shop on December the 13th in celebration of turfing Labour MP’s [sic] out of Barnsley. You can count on us to deliver. Promise.”
South Yorkshire Police told the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service they had received two complaints from members of the public about the offer, which appears to break the U.K.’s rules on “treating” — when a candidate or their agent offers a material incentive in exchange for a vote.
Wood told the BBC: “I can take the post down but I will be putting it back up the day after, when we win. No one has contacted me from the police. I am not associated with the Brexit Party, apart from helping the candidates. That is my treat to my customers after the Brexit Party win. If they don’t win, they won’t get it.”