At two inns on the outskirts of a village, vigorous political campaigning, comprising fighting and bribery takes place; a countryman is offered money and cards of invitation by two rival representatives of the Tory and Whig inns. Engraving by Charles Grignion after William Hogarth, 1757.

On the left, and aloof from the political proceedings, sit two men at the table of an ale-house called the [Por]tobello, named after a British naval victory. The inn in the foreground is the Tory Royal Oak as the sign shows Charles II's famous escape after the Battle of Worcester. A wooden lion figurehead about to devour a fleur-de-lys hints at anti-French xenophobia and patriotism. The large sign is in two compartments: below it depicts Punch bribing voters by spooning coins from a wheelbarrow, while above it shows a stream of money from the Treasury caught in a sack to be spent on electioneering instead of the armed forces. A smart Tory agent looks up at the young ladies waiting on a balcony and it seems he will bribe them with trinkets purchased from a Jewish pedlar. In the distance an anti-taxation Tory besieges the Whig tavern. A man attempts to saw the beam carrying a sign and shots are fired from a second floor window