When David Cameron opened the door to allow non party members to run for the Conservative candidacy ahead of the 2010 general election,[1] John Walsh decided to do just that and document his experiences on camera.

website, Walsh gives a humorous warning: "this film contains strong language throughout and scenes of politicians that some viewers may find offensive".

[6] Walsh paid homage to the great title designer Saul Bass and recreated his angular animations to create a fresh approach to telling this story.

"[8] When it premiered in London in May 2011, The Northern Echo reported Walsh's suggestion that the film might force a by-election as a result of its findings.

"When I got to Middlesbrough I found a town that politics had forgotten and a MP who was there in name only, a truly depressingly affair.”[9] A screening at the Frontline Club took place on 22 November 2011 followed by a Q&A with John Walsh.

"[3] Liberal Democrat commentator Mark Pack wrote on his blog that "John Walsh portrays life on the campaign trail as it really is.

[18] Samuel Scott from review site DVD Compare gave it a B− and wrote "I found this documentary very intriguing and very honest.

[20] On his blog, novelist Christopher Fowler wrote that ToryBoy The Movie was "a snapshot of our country’s political apathy in microcosm.

It’s heartbreaking to see people blindly supporting their own demise as if they’re playing some kind of long game they’ll probably never live to see the outcome of.

[24] He went on to say that "despite the zany tone of the film, it also has a hard-hitting message which questions whether one MP in his safe seat, and perhaps other MPs in similar situations, do enough to justify their salary and expenses.

[28][31] In 2015, when the film was re-released, a showing in Middlesbrough by Teesside University was cancelled to avoid breaching union rules on political neutrality in the run up to the general election.

"[32] Teesside Free Education Campaign activists, writing on the website of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, mentioned the union cancelling the film: "A few weeks after the student elections, a planned screening of the film Tory Boy, made by the 2010 Tory candidate for Middlesbrough about his experience standing in the area was cancelled, despite having been screened at schools and colleges up and down the country without controversy.