As MPs face increasing intimidation and hate, our new YouTube show Party Games aims to play some fun – and revealing – games to get to know the person behind the politician
It’s time to put on your party hats and get ready for games – because I’m back with another MP for more fun.
I’ve so far played games with Labour MPs Dawn Butler and Carolyn Harris on our new political show Party Games, which you can watch on The Mirror’s YouTube channel. This week we’ll be having some fun with our first Liberal Democrat guest, MP for Eastbourne Josh Babarinde.
As MPs face increasing intimidation and hate, our show aims to play some fun – and revealing – games to get to know the person behind the politician. I spin a wheel of fortune to choose the games I play with MPs – which include Hug, Marry, Avoid and Ask Me Anything.
During Two Truths and a Lie, Ms Harris last week revealed she accidentally turned on the Christmas tree lights at No10 when Boris Johnson was PM and was a competitive ballroom dancer when she was younger. You can watch the episode on YouTube here.
This week’s episode sees Mr Babarinde show off his hidden tattoo and reveal he also did a bungee jump with his stunt-obsessed party leader Sir Ed Davey. You can watch the latest episode with Mr Babarinde on The Mirror’s YouTube show at 6pm on Sunday.
Here’s a look at some of the best moments…
READ MORE: Labour MP tells how it would be her ‘dream’ to appear on Strictly Come DancingREAD MORE: ‘I played Hug, Marry, Avoid with Labour MP Dawn Butler and couldn’t stop laughing’
What does a Josh Babarinde party look like?
I’ll tell you what it was for my 30th: So I’m a big fan of Takeshi’s Castle, Total Wipeout, that kind of stuff. So I brought a bunch of friends together to go to this water park in a big lake, an inflatable assault course. It was amazing. And there were a couple of folks who are now Lib Dem MPs, who came to that birthday.
Have you ever got a tattoo?
Yeah! A group of mates and I – 16 of us – agreed to get a tattoo that was kind of similar. It got to, like, the kind of deadline by which we said we’d get the tattoo. No one had got it. I’m a man of my word, and I got Eastbourne Pier, my beloved, and the Eastbourne sun, because Eastbourne is officially the sunniest town in the UK.
Have you ever considered joining another political party?
When I was 16, I joined the Liberal Democrats because I wanted the free beer mat that they were giving away. I stayed in the party because I really believe in the party’s values. But around that time as well, to make doubly sure that I was happy with where I was, I joined the Labour Party so that I could get lots of their information, and I left very shortly afterwards, because they weren’t doing it for me.
READ MORE: ‘I got kicked out of Parliament for my brutal takedown of Boris Johnson’
Have you ever worn mismatched socks to Parliament?
I’ll tell you where I’ve worn mismatched socks – to Windsor Castle. I’m a Star Wars fan, and I’ve got a Star Wars set of socks. Usually I would wear the matching R2-D2 socks for example. But in the castle, I wore a Darth Vader one and an R2-D2 one… They needed both to be with me. The force needed so I needed both.
Would you rather change the outcome of the last election or get to decide the outcome of the next election?
Well, the outcome of the last election was amazing for the Liberal Democrats, the most seats that we’ve won in 100 years, and that included me being elected for my hometown, which is such an honour. In terms of the next election, well, the best way I can change the result is by campaigning in my seat and across the country to keep the likes of Reform well away from doing lots of the things that they’re planning to do, rolling back so much progress in our country and bringing about division, hatred and all the rest.
Would you rather spend more time in Parliament or more time in your constituency?
You can never spend too much time in Eastbourne. I’ve had a bunch of MPs come down over the last year or so to come and sample Eastbourne. They had a great time. So Eastbourne, Eastbourne, Eastbourne, all the way.
Would you rather have a photo of you taken eating a bacon sandwich like Ed Miliband or a of you stuck on a zip line like Boris Johnson?
Well, I’ve kind of been in a zip line type situation. Everyone knows that my party leader, Ed Davey, did lots of stunts before the last election, including a bungee jump. What not everyone knows is that right after him, I did the bungee jump. So Ed did his thing. He did it without any fear at all, just jumped off. It was my turn. He came to me and said: ‘Josh, just don’t look down.’ So I go into this crane. It gets cranked up 160ft into the air. What’s the first thing I do? I look down. And what’s the first thing I see? The local graveyard. I had a wobble at the top. I ended up jumping off.
What is an issue you are passionate about?
Well, a thing that really means a lot to me is protecting survivors and victims of domestic abuse. It is something that me and my family have been through, something that so many people across the country have been through, and the law currently doesn’t protect them enough. It doesn’t probably identify domestic abusers. We need to sort that out so that we can make sure that we protect victims and survivors.
READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster