Screening – ToryBoy the Movie

Filmmaker John Walsh converts from a lifetime of Labour support to stand in the 2010 elections as the Conservative candidate for Middlesborough in this hilarious documentary on the state of democracy in Britain.

His campaign turns into a quest to find the largely absentee Labour MP, Sir Stuart Bell, standing for a 7th term. It’s 15 years since he held a constituency surgery, no-one in his office ever answers the phone and he seems to live largely in France.

For Walsh the conclusion is clear; he’s not representing the people of Middlesborough and should be unseated. Yet in the end he’s voted back in, albeit on a low turnout and with a reduced majority.

Shortlist Grierson Awards – Best Documentary on a Contemporary Theme
Directed by John Walsh
2011
100 mins