29 Facts About Martin Bell

Martin Bell, was born on 31 August 1938 and is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament for Tatton from 1997 to 2001.

Martin Bell is sometimes known as "the man in the white suit".

Martin Bell is the brother of literary translator Anthea Bell and the uncle of Oliver Kamm, now a Times leader writer who served as his political adviser during his term as a Member of Parliament.

Martin Bell then studied at King's College, Cambridge, where he achieved a first-class honours degree in English.

Martin Bell served on the committee of Cambridge University Liberal Club, including a term as Publicity Officer.

Martin Bell failed to obtain a commission during his two-year national service and served out his time as an acting corporal in the Suffolk Regiment, serving in Cyprus during the emergency.

Martin Bell joined the BBC as a reporter in Norwich in 1962.

Martin Bell moved to London three years later, beginning a distinguished career as a foreign affairs correspondent with his first assignment in Ghana.

Martin Bell won the Royal Television Society's Reporter of the Year award in 1977 and 1993 and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1992.

That same year, while covering the war in Bosnia, Martin Bell was seriously wounded by shrapnel while recording a report in Sarajevo.

Martin Bell remained an official BBC correspondent, although from the mid-1990s he filed relatively few reports, and became disillusioned with the corporation.

Martin Bell was unimpressed by the BBC's introduction of a 24-hour news channel and what he described as the increasing "Murdochisation" of BBC News.

On 7 April 1997, twenty-four days before that year's British general election, Martin Bell announced that he was leaving the BBC to stand as an independent candidate in the Tatton constituency in Cheshire.

When Martin Bell spoke in the House of Commons, it was mostly on local issues or matters of British policy in the former Yugoslavia and the Third World.

Martin Bell described being an independent politician in Parliament as a "fortunate position" as he did not have to compromise for party interests, however he acknowledged it is a "necessary evil" for why compromises had to be made between politicians principles and the end policy outputs.

Martin 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.

In 2001, Martin Bell stood as an independent candidate against another Conservative MP Eric Pickles in the "safe" Essex constituency of Brentwood and Ongar, where there were accusations that the local Conservative Association had been infiltrated by a Pentecostal church.

Martin Bell came second and reduced the Conservative majority from 9,690 to 2,821.

Martin Bell was appointed UNICEF UK Ambassador for Humanitarian Emergencies in August 2001, to work to improve the plight of children affected by conflict and natural disasters.

Martin Bell made a brief return to television news in 2003 when he provided analysis of the Iraq invasion for ITN's Channel Five News.

Martin Bell compiled films from the daily video footage and drew on his experience to comment upon this material.

Martin Bell wrote jointly with MacNeil to Prime Minister Tony Blair calling for all appointments to the House of Lords to be suspended.

Martin Bell announced that he was considering standing against a third Conservative MP, Sir Nicholas Winterton, the MP for Macclesfield, at the 2010 general election, but following Winterton's announcement that he was not going to seek re-election, did not do so.

Martin Bell indicated that he might stand against Hazel Blears in Salford although in the end he did not stand in any constituency.

In November 2018, Martin Bell fell at Gatwick Airport and required major maxillo-facial surgery at St George's Hospital to rebuild his face.

Martin Bell praised surgeon Helen Witherow, saying "this lady is an absolutely brilliant surgeon, and I think sometimes the NHS can use a bit of good publicity".

In November 2021, Martin Bell was approached by the Liberal Democrats to run in the 2021 North Shropshire by-election after the resignation of the Tory MP Owen Paterson after a lobbying scandal, but declined to stand.

Martin Bell has two daughters with his first wife, Helene Gordoun, a Frenchwoman whom he left for the American television journalist Rebecca Sobel during his time in Washington.

Martin Bell commented that the marriage was "a disaster", and it later emerged that his stepdaughter, Jessica Sobel, had become a drug addict, prostitute, and porn star.