During Prime Minister’s Questions on January 14, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said 7,000 pubs “were closed under the Tories“.

Evaluation

The figure is in line with Office for National Statistics (ONS) data on public houses and bars between 2010 and 2024.

The data measures the fall in the number of pubs and bars, which is not the same as closures. If three pubs closed and two opened, that would count as a reduction of just one.

The facts

Although there is no official measure on how many pubs have closed, the ONS collects data on the number of public houses and bars in the UK each year.

ONS data shows there were 44,680 public houses and bars in the UK registered with HM Revenue and Customs for VAT or PAYE in March 2010, two months before David Cameron became prime minister when the Conservatives won that year’s general election.

This figure had fallen to 37,875 in March 2024, three months before Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.

While this means there were 6,805 fewer public houses and bars over the period, it does not mean there were 6,805 closures. The number of closures is likely to be higher because the total includes new or reopened sites.

Links

Hansard – Prime Minister’s Questions, January 14 2026 (archived)

ONS – Pubs by region, 2009 to 2022 (archived and spreadsheet download relevant data in Analysis 1, column C)

Gov.uk – David Cameron (archived)

ONS – Food and drink services by number of sites 2019 to 2024 (archived and spreadsheet download, relevant data in Analysis 2, column H)

Gov.uk – Prime Minister (archived)