'I played Hug, Marry, Avoid with Labour MP Dawn Butler and couldn't stop laughing'

It is not often you get to play games with elected Members of Parliament.

But it is exactly what I am doing on The Mirror’s new show, Party Games, which was launched this Saturday, June 16. In the programme on The Mirror's YouTube channel, I host familiar faces from across the political spectrum for a party like no other.

Our first guest is Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler.

Wearing an obligatory party hat, I spin a wheel of fortune to decide which games to play - with each one having its own special ability to tease out funny stories, emotional moments and, of course, some political jabs from MPs.

They include “Would You Rather?” where MPs have to make a painful choice out of two options, and “Never Have I Ever?”, There is also the “Ask Me Anything” round and the “30-Second Pitch”, where the guest gets to talk for 30 seconds about an issue, cause or campaign they are passionate about.

READ MORE: 'I got kicked out of Parliament for calling Boris Johnson one word'

There is also the “Ask Me Anything” round and “Hug, Marry, Avoid”, where MPs have to choose who’d they’d hug, marry or avoid out of a given list of three people. I have to admit Dawn's reaction including Reform UK MPs Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Richard Tice did draw a cackling laugh out of me.

"What? What are you talking about?," she said incredulously. "They're not options. They're all the same... I feel like I need help after this. I need therapy now."

In an age where MPs face increasingly vicious intimidation, hate and violence, The Mirror’s show hopes to allow viewers to get to know the humans behind the pomp of Westminster.

Here’s a look at some of the best moments from the episode.

Have you ever been told off by the Speaker?

“Well obviously I got thrown out of Parliament for calling Boris Johnson a liar,” she said. “He lied over and over and over again. I was just like, come on, he’s gaslighting the whole country. And I'd had enough. I'm that kind of conviction politician, so what is the point in me being here if I'm not going to sort of speak truth to power? The doorkeepers came up to me and said, I had to leave Parliament - the whole estate - straight away, or do I need to be escorted off? And I was like, good job I had my keys on me.”

Would you rather be London mayor or Prime Minister?

“London mayor. To represent London - and I'm a Londoner through, born in East London - just having London the way I have experienced it and see it, and just making London wonderful for everyone, and everyone being sort of proud of London and being a Londoner, yeah, I'd love to be Mayor of London.” Asked if she’d be running in the next mayoral election, she added: “Once there’s a vacancy, I will put my hat in the ring.”

What was your greatest moment in politics?

“I was the first black female MP to ever stand at that despatch box as a government minister. And when I think back, I think, God, I made history. And a few weeks before, we were talking about the abolition of slavery, and I thought, God, they'd all be spinning in their graves knowing that there's a black woman at the dispatch box representing Her Majesty's Government. And so that's one of my proudest moments.”

Would you rather stand out or follow the crowd?

“You have to stand out from the crowd, especially if you're a Black woman, what's the point? You're always going to stand out, right? And I remember somebody saying to me that if I want to be taken seriously as a politician, I need to tone down my dress. And that was it: I was like, illuminate! You’re going to need sunglasses when I walk in a room.”

What is an issue you are passionate about?

“My summer campaign 2025 is about cleaning up our high streets. At the moment, councils are not allowed to say no to betting shops and adult gaming centres. That's why we have so many in poorer areas. So what I want to do is make sure we change the law - the 2005 Gambling Act - so that councils can have more of a say, so that people can have more of a say, because our high streets deserve to be better, we deserve high streets that are full of beautiful complexity and not so many betting shops.”

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