An Accidental MP

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Martin Bell

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Pages: 240 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 0670892319

Pub: Viking

Pub date: 2000-09-07

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 151328

Editorial Review:

If the BBC had found me a small war somewhere, none of the rest of this story would have occurred.
There is a photograph in An Accidental MP of Martin Bell, brow furrowed, mouth open, eyes glazed with what could be incomprehension or incredulity. This could almost be the freeze-frame embodiment of this engaging self-penned account of his by-election victory over Neil Hamilton, Tory MP and the parliamentarian most associated with sleaze, and his subsequent career as parliament's first Independent MP for almost half a century. A self-admitted layman in politics with no party allegiances, Bell was sick of the dumbing down of BBC news into "newzak" when he accepted the suggestion of standing as a candidate, almost in the course of after dinner chat. However, not everyone wakes up the next morning with a call from Alastair Campbell. As an Independent he had no party machine, "more a contraption" to guide him through the procedural minefields. This in itself would have made for a fascinating everyman story to lead readers through the palace of Westminster, its personalities and processes. Yet perhaps it is Bell's sense of fair play that prevents him from taking us through more of the details of his excellent adventure. He almost comes across as an anachronism, but his self-righteousness seems reasonably well-placed. His passion is undeniable, his sense of injustice acute, and his narration of the effects of landmines and the disgraceful treatment of paratrooper Major Milos Stankovic by the Ministry of Defence pertinent and compelling. His discussion of the Kosovo war is strong on commitment, although readers looking for more detail might find deeper argument in Michael Ignatieff's Virtual War. There are few surprises for the cynical: parliament is increasingly populated by cronies, MPs debate too long, and Peter Mandelson really is the prince of darkness. Yet this is a fascinating read carried along by Bell's self-effacing wit. Apparently he is toying with the idea of continuing beyond his pledge of one term. One doesn't know whether to pity his foolhardiness or envy his next great adventure. --Larry Brown

Reader Reviews:

Independents 1... (0/0 people found this helpful)

Bell became the only Independent in Parliament after he beat the corrupt sitting MP, Neil Hamilton, in his "sage" Tatton (Cheshire) seat in the 1990's. He said he would only contest once and kept to that promise. A man of honour, it seems! So, inevitably, he is not now in the corrupt LibLabCon-men's paradise and monkeyhouse called the House of Commons. He is not really part of The System, as Hitler and Goebbels called the similar Weimar Republic set-up.

Hamilton is admitted by Bell to have been an assiduous constituency MP. That is the mitigation now advanced for so many members of the Commons caught up in the 2009 expenses and allowances scandal (along with "within the rules which we drafted ourselves", "did nothing wrong", "an oversight", "an error" and, of course "I'll pay some back!"...).

The funny thing is that what Hamilton did was less culpable somehow than the present fiasco, in that he simply sold himself a bit...whereas the present ones are on a nonstop freeloading expedition. The disgusting Ed Balls even tried to claim for a November 11 poppy! Oh, Style, where have you gone?! And you have taken Decency with you!

Bell is also good on the black and white simplicites demanded by especially American TV viewers, which end up by not accurately portraying somewhere as tangled as Bosnia.

I was not quite sure what he meant by saying that Cheshire was like Surrey but with real people. Admittedly I know Surrey and not Cheshire (much), but I would say Surrey people are real while the Cheshire people I have met all seemed plastic nouveaux riche...maybe it just depends whom you meet in life...I still prefer Surrey!

As to his judgment, he liked Oona King, he says, she being the half-Jewish, half West-Indian Labour "Blair Babe" chucked out eventually by the voters in favour of a more independent candidate. Well, I can only say that in every sense she would be the kind of politician I would detest: not English or even European, not well educated, saying little intelligent. Good riddance! So I cannot agree with all Bell says in this book, for sure.

I feel he cares, though and if anyone should be an MP, supposedly representative of the public, he should.

too good to be true (1/1 people found this helpful)

Call me a total cynic but there is something too good about Bell's story of his rise from former-BBC journalist to MP. I know he built his political career on being whiter than white but reading this account of his rise to office you would think he had never had a selfish thought in his life (surely he had some negative thoughts about rivil Neil Hamilton and he must have hated his former BBC bosses for the way they treated him and not just been slightly disgruntled as this book suggests?) The book is well written (as you would expect from a journalist) and an easy read but I couldn't help thinking that I wasn't getting the whole truth. If you believe the pages about his debut in Parliament you would think he was more a scared schoolboy on his first day rather than a seasoned war correspondence. Worth a look but would have been so much better if Bell had opened up a bit more.

Interesting but just a little too smug (8/8 people found this helpful)

I looked forward to gaining a unique insight into life as a politician, free from mainstream party constraints and spin. But was disappointed by the lack of real detail regarding Mr. Bell's daily duties once elected and the real workings of the House of Commons. It spent too long detailing the build up to his winning the seat and his "battle" with the Hamiltons and then on a couple of individual episodes during his term in power (e.g. returning to the Balkans).

It seemed abit of a rushed job and inevitably suffered from an autobiography's tendency to paint it's subject in only the best of lights. Still worth reading, but don't expect a political classic.

Informative, Interesting, Revealing. (5/5 people found this helpful)

I found Martin Bell's 'An Accidental MP' a good read for a number of reasons. Primarily that Bell occupied a unique position within the 1997 Parliament as the the House of Commons only Independent MP. As he points out in the text, the first Independent for 47 years. It is especially worth reading his account of taking on a large Conservative machine defending a strong majority.

Dealing with constituents was a central part of the book, the many dramas that unfold within a town are well described. The most prominent of these MP-voter relations was the way in which Bell dealt with the man he replaced, the now famous Neil Hamilton.

It is also revealing as a story of a man outside of the normal political processes of the Commons, he had no party, no activists, no funding and no natural supporters. I would reccommend 'An Accidental MP' to anyone interested in the one off characters in Parliament, but also anyone interested in recent party political history-a place that Martin Bell now inhabits after his political death at the 2001 General Election.

A view from the political subs-bench (5/5 people found this helpful)

Martin Bell has done it again: if you haven't read 'In Harm's Way' it is well worth the trouble as it provides a lot of the background for this fascinating account of life in Westminster for the Independent MP for Tatton. From the acrimonious relationship with Neil Hamilton and his... wife, Christine, to representing the cause of Major Mike Stanley (Milos Stankovic) Bell portrays himself as an interested, but sadly powerless, observer on the inner workings of Parliament. I got to the end of the book feeling quite sorry for him: as if he'd been frog-marched into Westminster without the slightest idea what he was doing there and with little chance of pleasing anyone there or, ultimately, his constituents. The book raises many issues and links into many other books I would like to have the time to read. Excellent read.

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