Editing Martin Bell (section)

==Independent politician==

On 7 April 1997, twenty-four days before that year's British [[1997 United Kingdom general election|general election]], Bell announced that he was leaving the BBC to [[Tatton in the 1997 general election|stand as an independent candidate]] in the [[Tatton (UK Parliament constituency)|Tatton]] constituency in [[Cheshire]]. Tatton was one of the safest [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] seats in the country, where the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament, [[Neil Hamilton (politician)|Neil Hamilton]], was embroiled in sleaze allegations. [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] withdrew their candidates in Bell's favour in a plan masterminded by [[Alastair Campbell]], [[Tony Blair]]'s press secretary.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/3535309.stm |title=Man-in-white stands for Euro seat |publisher=BBC News|access-date=26 April 2007 |date=5 March 2004}}</ref><ref>[[Alastair Campbell|Campbell, Alastair]], ''[[The Blair Years]]'', [[Random House]], London, 2007</ref>

On 1 May 1997, Hamilton was trounced, and Bell was elected an MP with a majority of 11,077 votes<ref>{{cite news |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/0,9338,-1360,00.html |title=Tatton |work=The Guardian|access-date=26 April 2007 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513083037/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/0%2C9338%2C-1360%2C00.html |archive-date=13 May 2008}}</ref> – overturning a notional Conservative majority of over 22,000 in the 4th safest Conservative seat in the UK – and thus became the first successful independent parliamentary candidate since 1951.<ref name=Guardian07 />

When Bell spoke in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], it was mostly on local issues or matters of British policy in the former [[Yugoslavia]] and the [[Third World]]. Although Bell voted with the Labour government of [[Tony Blair]] on many issues, he voted with the Conservatives in opposing the repeal of [[Section 28]]. He also voted against the banning of fox hunting. On 12 November 1997 he was cheered from the Conservative benches when he asked Blair about the [[Bernie Ecclestone]] affair, "Does the Prime Minister agree that the perception of wrongdoing can be as damaging to public confidence as the wrongdoing itself? Have we slain one dragon only to have another take its place, with a red rose in its mouth?"<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/29256.stm |publisher=BBC News|title=Blair under attack over party funding |access-date=12 May 2010}}</ref>

Bell described being an independent politician in Parliament as a "fortunate position" given that he was not obliged to support positions he did not believe in (while acknowledging that such compromises were "necessary evils" of party politics).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pike |first=Jon |date=30 August 2019 |title=Machiavelli and Political Power |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society/politics-policy-people/politics/political-power |access-date=10 January 2022 |website=The [[Open University]]}}</ref>

As part of his election platform, Bell had stated that he would serve for only one term, his specific purpose being to oppose [[Neil Hamilton (politician)|Neil Hamilton]]. Bell said that the only thing which could make him change his mind would be Hamilton being selected by the Tatton Conservative Party as a candidate for the next general election. However, [[George Osborne]] (a future [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]) was selected in March 1999 as the Conservative Party candidate for Tatton. Hamilton lost his libel case against [[Mohamed Al-Fayed]] in December 1999, ending any prospect of his making an immediate political comeback.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/dec/22/hamiltonvalfayed.conservatives |title=A greedy, corrupt liar |first1=Matt |last1=Wells |first2=Jamie |last2=Wilson |first3=David |last3=Pallister |work=The Guardian|location=London |date=22 December 1999 |access-date=18 July 2015}}</ref> Though he regretted making the pledge of saying he would serve for only one term, Bell stuck to his promise.

In 2001, Bell stood as an independent candidate against another Conservative MP, [[Eric Pickles]], in the "safe" [[Essex]] constituency of [[Brentwood and Ongar (UK Parliament constituency)|Brentwood and Ongar]], where there were accusations that the local Conservative Association had been infiltrated by a [[Pentecostal]] church.<ref name=Beeb>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/world_at_one/programme_highlights/1061583.stm |title=Martin Bell to run for MP again |publisher=BBC News|date=8 December 2000 |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> In this election, Labour and the Liberal Democrats did not stand aside for him. Bell came second and reduced the Conservative majority from 9,690 to 2,821.

Having garnered nearly 32% of the votes and second place, Bell announced his retirement from politics, saying that "winning one and losing one is not a bad record for an amateur".

The [[Channel 4]] drama ''Mr White Goes to Westminster'' was loosely based on Bell's political career.