Blogs and Briefings
ToryBoy: The Movie
Connect’s Adam Thomas joins Lembit Opik at a London premiere with a difference
18 November 2011
An enjoyable Tuesday evening was spent in the company of various politicos (including Lembit Opik) at the first London showing of ‘Tory Boy the Movie’, a fly on the wall documentary by John Walsh, a Labour supporter turned Cameron convert, following the trials and tribulations of being a Tory candidate in one of the most inhospitable places for a Tory to stand– Middlesbrough.
What started as a short film about his campaign turned into a fully fledged 100 minute expose of the local Labour Party which raises serious concerns about the local MP Sir Stuart Bell.
Walsh’s rise through the party was meteoric, going from thinking about joining the Conservatives to being selected for the Middlesborough seat within 12 weeks, and he certainly takes the local party by storm – recommending ‘flash mobbing’ in his first campaign meeting as well as other campaign stunts, such as putting a ‘Vote Conservative’ poster on Bell’s garden gate, and threatening to have Bell “in prison by Christmas” in a hustings.
But there’s also a serious side as Walsh has to deal with poor organisation and, fatally, his election address going awry. With little to no support on the ground Walsh resorts to throwing frying pans across his kitchen and threatening to pull out of the campaign – something all us who’ve stood for election can relate to.
The film concludes with an altercation between Bell and Walsh at the count with a number of expletives going back and forth, mostly from Bell’s son Malcolm.
This quirky documentary is enjoyable and definitely worth a look. You can watch the trailer here .
